Red
by Curse of the Ninth
Summary: The story of a boy and the journey he takes that changes everything in his world. Following the origins, the life and times of the most influential individual in Pokemon history. This is the story of Red. (Based on an in-game Nuzlocke, rated for occasional violence, language and death)
1. Out of the Void

Red  
A Nuzlocke of Pokemon FireRed Version

Chapter 1: Out of the Void

"Welcome to the world of Pokémon!"

I could hear the voice, but I couldn't tell what it was saying exactly. Everything sounded gargled and muted. The only thing I knew was that I was laying down on a smooth surface, and my heart was keeping me alive with a metronomic pounding.

"My name is Professor Oak!" I could hear the voice continuing.

It sounded male, and an older male at that. I didn't want to open my eyes to identify the speaker. The glaring light from the other side of my eyelids would certainly blind me if I tried. Then again, laying here and listening to him without any idea of where I was and who was talking to me wasn't a very exciting prospect either.

I slowly opened my eyes. The brightness stunned me for a few seconds, and everything around me was painful to look at. Once I adjusted, I observed my surroundings…but there was nothing to observe. Gray, as far as the eye can see. There was no sense of distance or direction. As far as I could tell, the only things that existed were myself, the surface I was standing on, and the voice.

The voice. Where was it coming from?

"…So tell me about yourself! Are you a boy or a girl?"

The voice, or Professor Oak, as it called itself, was talking incoherently as I was waking up. Eventually, my hearing returned and I could process his question. I looked around once more, searching for the voice's source so I could respond, but there was none.

"Boy", I grunted, my voice hoarse from lack of use. As I tried clearing my throat a few times, Oak responded:

"Let's start with your name. What is it?"

I thought for a second. Should I really be giving my name to a faceless voice calling itself a professor in an endless gray void?

Sure. Why not.

"Mike", I grunted again. My sight, hearing and voice were all coming back to me now.

"Of course! Mike!" Even without a face, the professor was clearly way too excited about my answer. With nothing else to do in this…place…I decided I could listen to what he had to say.

"This is my grandson! You've been rivals since you were babies" the professor explained, and in that instant, an image of a boy appeared in front of me. He looked about my height, with a black shirt, purple pants, dark sneakers and golden brown hair. His face wore a disgruntled sneer, frozen in time.

Did he say 'rivals'? I've never seen this kid before in my life. Who the hell is he? As if on cue to the question I posed in my mind, the professor began to speak again.

"Oh dear…I can't remember his name. You wouldn't happen to know his name, would you?"

The professor sounded rather embarrassed, but as he spoke, letters appeared out of thin air (or whatever it is that was filling the space here) and began to form words.

No, not words.

_Names_.

I saw several names, dozens, orbiting around the image of the boy in front of me. Was I supposed to...pick one? Why? WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!

Without thinking, I thrust my arm into the jumble of floating names and grabbed one. My fingers closed around something cold and metallic, and when I pulled my hand out of the cloud of letters, I looked at what I had grasped. "Gary", I read off my palm.

"Ah yes! Gary, my grandson!" The professor seemed to be having a wonderful time again. The letters in my hand vanished, along with the others, and then the image of the boy began to distort. The colors of his clothes and body were fading to white, and his frame was shrinking. The transformation lasted only a couple of seconds, but in the end, the figure I had accidentally christened as Gary was only a foot in height. His figure seemed the same, just dramatically smaller.

And then I saw my hand turn white. My whole body began to glow, as if I had floodlights under my skin. I can only assume that I shrank just like Gary had, but I couldn't feel it. All I could feel was warmth. The professor's voice rang out again:

"A brand new adventure awaits!"

And then the void of gray disappeared…

The ground beneath me felt soft and warm. Again, I had to force my eyes to adjust to the sudden change in lighting. At least this time there was something to look at…

I was in a room. A bedroom. The ground beneath me was a green carpet with yellow dots, covering about a third of a perfectly polished wooden floor. I spotted a bed (why wasn't I in THAT…), a TV with a game station, a computer atop a wooden desk and a bookshelf. It all looked rather cozy, actually.

Then I looked down at myself: black shirt under a light red and white jacket, and blue jeans. I wiggled my toes inside of their new comfortable black and red sneakers. There was a hat on my head though I don't remember it being there earlier. It was a plain red hat with a white visor and a white semicircle on the front.

I don't know where these clothes came from, but they sure were nice.

Getting myself off the floor, I approached the computer. It looked simple enough, so I figured it couldn't hurt to figure out where I was exactly. Booting up the computer didn't help with that mystery at all; the only two options on the screen were "Item Storage" and "Mailbox". Hoping for some kind of clue, I checked the mailbox first. It was empty.

"So much for that…" I grumbled. Going the only next logical step, I looked in the Item Storage. The computer prompted me as to whether I wanted to withdraw or deposit. It was at that moment I realized that I had nothing on me; no wallet, no keys, no ID. My pockets were bare.

Starting to feel frightened at the prospect of being stuck who-knows-where without any proof of who I am, I selected the withdraw option. A small purple spray-bottle appeared on screen and began to slowly revolve. Underneath it appeared some small black letters: "Potion x1". After a few seconds, I realized this must be the item that was being stored, so I selected it.

There was a low hum from the machine, and the same bottle appeared right next to my hand.

"WHAT THE" I fell back off my chair before I could finish my expletive. There it was. The image that was just now on the computer screen was now physically in front of me. After making sure it wasn't a hologram of some sort, I picked it up and examined it.

Sleek, shiny, smooth. I squeezed the trigger, and a fine mist came out of the nozzle and drifted through the air. It smelled like air freshener, but not any kind I had ever seen before. As the mist settled around me, my spirits lifted. I was no longer afraid of being identity-less in an unknown place with unknown objects or clothing of unknown origins. Everything was just…just GREAT.

I pocketed the potion and looked up. For the first time, I noticed the stairs leading into the floor. There was no door in the room, so I figured there must be a ground floor.

Then I heard it.

Footsteps. Rustling. The light clinking of glass and metal against each other. The unmistakable sounds of human movement.

I wasn't alone.

* * *

**Hi everyone. **

**This is my first attempt at FanFiction. I love Pokemon and I love Nuzlocke. I've seen a lot of other people documenting their Nuzlockes as stories, comics or even videos, so I'm doing the same.  
**

**My story will follow the general plot of Pokemon FireRed version, with my own ideas put in, such as the history and relevance of the Gym Challenge, Silph Co. and just the general workings of the Pokemon world as we would perceive them.  
The story will still be largely dictated by events that are actually happening to me in-game, including battles, captured Pokemon, casualties and so on. I have a pretty good idea of where this story will go, whether or not the Nuzlocke succeeds, but I'm writing the story as I play, so I'm just in as much suspense as you are.  
**

**Well, hopefully I write well enough that you're in MORE suspense. But we'll see.  
**

**For those of you who don't know, a Nuzlocke is a Pokemon playthrough that revolves around a set of player-imposed rules designed to make the game more challenging and emotionally significant. The rules are:  
**

**1. If a Pokemon is defeated in battle or faints, it is considered dead and cannot be used again. It must be either released or permanently boxed.  
**

**2. Only the first Pokemon encountered in a new area can be captured. Exceptions are if the Pokemon is a duplicate of one you have already caught (you can still choose to catch it, but you don't have to).  
**

**3. You must nickname every Pokemon so as to form a tighter emotional bond to them. This makes the game more engrossing and more traumatic when a team member falls.  
**

**Those are the basic Nuzlocke rules. I've added one of my own, mostly for the sake of a more interesting narrative:  
**

**4. A Pokemon may be revived with the use of a Revive or a Max Revive _that was found in-game. Revives may not be_**_** purchased.**_**  
**

**That's all I have to say at this point.  
**

**Enjoy!  
**


	2. The World of Pokemon

Chapter 2: The World of Pokémon

Nervously, I approached the stairs. Who was down there? What were they doing? What did they want? I crept up to the top step, and noticed a small bag sitting there. It was about the size of a backpack, the kind you would wear to school. On top of it was a small laminated card. I could tell it had a picture of me on it, so I picked it up without hesitation.

"My ID!" I thought to myself. But something didn't look right. For one, it didn't have my full name. Just "Mike", emblazoned in dark letters across the top, right beneath a set of even larger letters that read "Trainer Card".

Trainer Card? This can't be mine.

But the picture proved it. On the right side was a full body photograph of me, wearing the exact clothes I was wearing now, and in a rather dramatic pose. It looked good, actually, but there was no mistaking it; this card belonged to me.

"Am I a trainer then?" I caught myself thinking. "What is it that I train?" My eyes flitted across the surface of the card. Under my name, I read "Money: 3000".

Funny, I didn't feel rich at all.

I was getting rather sick of asking myself questions that I didn't know the answers to, so I didn't bother this time. I pocketed the card and opened the bag.

Empty.

I took the potion out of my pocket and tossed it in the bag, then pulled it over my shoulders and continued down the stairs.

I ended up in a sort of kitchen/living room area of the house. There was a sink, a stove, a cabinet, another TV, a table, some nice potted plants I'd never seen before, and a woman, sitting at the table. She looked about in her 30s, with shoulder-length wavy brown hair, framing her narrow, pale face. She was wearing a modest summer dress under an apron. She seemed heavily preoccupied, so I tried to creep around her to the door I spotted on the opposite side of the room. The light pouring in from the windows informed that it was daytime, and that the door led to the outside…wherever that was.

As I tiptoed around the room, I glanced into the cabinet. There was a collection of photographs on display behind the glass and, from a distance I could make out the woman's face among them. Some of the pictures had her standing next to a well-dressed man with slick black hair, but in many of the pictures, she was next to a young boy in a red cap.

A cap just like the one I was wearing.

I raised my hand to the visor over my eyes as the realization came to me. Was this person supposed to be my mother?

"Hello" I managed to choke out. Why didn't I have any memory of this person?

The woman didn't look up or turn around. She simply mumbled to herself. Something about "all boys leave home someday". I stood rooted to the spot, observing her, waiting for her to say something else, or at least look at me. She didn't move, so I left, disturbed by the circumstances I was finding myself in.

Leaving the house turned out to be a great idea. The instant the door closed, I felt rejuvenated. There was sun and wind and grass and people. I looked around and gathered that I was in a small village. Some people, who I could only assume were locals, were milling around town. I approached a little girl nearby who was reading a sign.

"Excuse me, do you know where we are?"

The girl looked away from the sign with a big grin and said "You're in Pallet Town, silly! See?" She pointed to the sign I had directed her attention from. Surely enough, there it was.

Pallet Town.

I thanked her, and decided to stroll around. "This is nice" I said to nobody in particular, but the people ambling around acknowledged my improved mood. In a few short moments, I reached the edge of town, which formed a straight pathway through a wooded area. I could barely make out the outlines of buildings in the distance. It was a rather long walk away. Just as I was about to set foot out of town, a sharp yank on my collar pulled me back.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING"

I fell flat on my ass, and looked up at my assailant. A gray haired man in a white lab coat, waving his arms wildly and turning red in the face from the sheer volume of his voice reprimanding me.

Wait a minute. That voice.

"You're Professor Oak!" I accused.

"And you're an idiot who almost walked into tall grass without a Pokémon!" he countered.

"Without a whatnow? What tall grass?"

The professor pointed to the ground I was standing on moments ago. I followed his finger down to a small tuft of grass, literally just a couple inches taller than the surrounding greenery. Barely noticeable.

That was the big deal? Some slightly taller grass?

"So what?" I was starting to get frustrated.

"So what. So what? THERE ARE WILD POKÉMON OUT THERE, YOU HAD NOTHING TO PROTECT YOURSELF WITH!" Oak's face was practically purple at this point. His rage unabated, he grabbed my sleeve. "Come with me"

Well, not like I had a choice.

Breaking into a full-on sprint, Professor Oak dragged me by my sleeve back into town the way I had came.

"Professor, stop!" I tore my sleeve out of his grip. "I need answers. Where are we? What do you want with me? What the hell are these pokey things you keep talking about?"

The Professor was dumbstruck. Did I say something stupid?

"You really have no idea, do you…" he said, slowly and calmly, quite contrary to how he was a minute ago.

I didn't respond. This guy was making me feel like _I_ was the crazy one.

"I'll explain in the lab. Follow me." I looked up to see that we were standing under a tall rectangular building. He rushed inside, and I dutifully followed.

Inside the building, several people donned in lab coats were frantically scurrying about and screaming to each other. I guess they all took after Oak. I followed him through the crowd of white to the back of the laboratory, where it was quieter and not as congested.

"This is my office" he said, taking a seat in a nice chair by a computer similar to the one in my room. I looked around for another seat, and spotted two. One was already filled.

It was him: Gary. The boy from the void who I had accidentally named. He looked just like he did then, only moving and somehow much more unpleasant than his frozen sneer suggested.

"Hi Gary, I'm Mike. It's good to meet you" I said, extending a hand in as friendly a gesture as possible.

Gary raised an eyebrow. "How do you know my name, punk?"

I looked over at Oak and saw that he too had raised his eyebrows.

Well this is awkward...Clearly I was the odd one out here. I quietly took my seat next to Gary across from Oak.

"Yes, well…as you apparently already know, this is Gary, my grandson." Oak said, reaching one hand under his desk as if he were looking for something. "I've brought you two here" he continued "so that I can give you your first Pokémon!" On that final word, he brought his hand up from the under the desk. In his palm were three red and white balls about the size of cherries. He set them on the desk between us, where they immediately expanded from the size of cherries to about the size of baseballs.

"Wow…" I breathed. Gary simply snorted.

"Can we hurry this up, Gramps?"

"Sure, sure" responded Oak, seemingly a little upset that Gary wasn't as intrigued as I was. "Anyway, as I was saying, you both to get to pick one Pokémon today to mark the beginning of your journey."

"Journey?" I asked.

"Yes, it's a sort of rite of passage. Upon reaching the proper age, every child takes their first Pokémon and travels with them to find their place in the world. Some of us become rangers, serving to protect Pokémon and people alike and keep order. Some of us become professors, to study Pokémon in the scientific community and learn more about them" continued Oak, smiling a little to himself as he said this.

As he spoke, I stared down at the orbs on his desk. They looked like metal capsules. Were the Pokémon inside? And I still wasn't too clear on what a Pokémon is.

"And some of us become trainers."

My ears perked up. "Is that what we are, then? Gary and I?"

"From the looks of it, only one of us will become anything at all" Gary responded. His implication was clear; we weren't going to get along very well.

"You can be whatever you want, Mike. But first you must choose." Oak said, indicating the spheres between us.

Having no reason to pick otherwise, I took the one closest to me. It felt warm in my hands. I looked over at Gary and saw that he too took the one closest to him.

"Well? Crack 'em open! Let's see what you picked!" Oak exclaimed, jumping up from his desk.

I examined the ball in my hand and noticed a small button on the line that separated the white half from the red half. I pressed it.

The ball burst open and a beam of light escaped out of its silvery interior, arching in the air and landing at my feet. The light began to take shape, and then faded, leaving behind a small blue-green creature with a large plant bud on its back.

"Bulba!" squawked the creature, and smiled happily up at me. This was a Pokémon? Well damn, they sure are cute!

"Mike, you picked Bulbasaur! I'm sure you're going to get along very well together." Oak then directed his attention to Gary, who also released his Pokémon; an orange bipedal lizard with a small flickering flame at the tip of its tail. "Gary, you picked Charmander! He's a great fit for you, I think."

Gary was wholly unimpressed by everything that had happened in the office. "Yeah, whatever." he commented, as if on the weather and not the sudden apparition of a flaming reptile half his height. He proceeded to unceremoniously stuff the empty ball into the pocket of his pants.

Charmander, meanwhile, looked ecstatic. His gleeful smile revealed small pointed teeth, and he and my new...Bulbasaur, was it?...were examining each other curiously.

Oak took the third Pokéball off the desk and stowed it in a drawer. "Well, would you like to nickname your new friends?" he asked us. I looked down at Bulbsaur, trying to think of a good nickname for the little guy.

After a few moments of intense thought, I addressed my Pokémon; "How about Bud?"

Bulbasaur cocked his head. He looked displeased.

"No? Alright, how about…Flower?"

Bulbausaur frowned. Clearly I wasn't very good with nicknames. After bouncing around some other plant-related terms, I stumbled on one by accident.

"How does 'Snare' sound?"

Bulbasaur's eyes lit up. Yep, that was it.

"Alright, Snare it is!" I didn't know why, but this was really exciting. I could already imagine traveling the world with this little fella.

"Alright, off you go" the professor started shooing Gary and me out of his office, but not before Charmander was zapped back into his ball by a laser-thin red beam. I decided to keep Snare out with me; I can't imagine it was too comfortable in those capsules...

Working our way back through the crowd of scientists in the front of the lab, we managed to get back outside. Gary and I turned to each other.

"Well…good luck, I guess" I said to him, even though I was looking at the ground. I could already feel that he disliked me and I couldn't imagine why. I turned on my heel and started to walk away.

"Hey! Get back here!" I turned. Gary had Charmander's Pokéball in his hand, and was tossing it up and down. "Don't you want to test out our new Pokémon?" he said. From the look in his eye, I knew what he meant.

He wanted to battle.

"Sounds fine to me" I said, unsure of whether that was the right thing to say. "What do you think, Snare?" My new friend was already pawing the ground, ready for some action. "Alright, we're in!" I yelled back to Gary. Gary tossed his Pokéball into the air, which cracked open and released the fiery lizard once again. It was then that I realized…I had no idea how to battle.

"Uh…"

Snare looked up at me, expectantly waiting for instruction.

"…uh…go get 'em?" I said, hopefully. Snare nodded. I knew he'd understand. Snare turned toward Charmander, lowered his head, and ran as fast as his stubby little legs could carry him, resulting in a direct collision.

"Charmander, let 'em have it!" Gary commanded. Wow, he sounded far more confident in battle than I did. I hope that wouldn't mean I'd lose. Charmander pulled one arm back and delivered a scratch right down Snare's nose, leaving three bloody lines. Snare reiterated his original charge by tackling Charmander to the ground, who promptly delivered another swipe to Snare's front leg.

The battle continued in this fashion for a short time. Snare would tackle and Charmander would scratch. It wasn't as thrilling as I imagined, to be honest…

Eventually, Charmander's claw grazed the underside of Snare's belly, near the joint of his rear leg. My jaw dropped. The damage looked serious and the resulting gash was frighteningly deep. Snare collapsed on his side, blood oozing out of the fresh cut. Somehow I knew the battle was over, and I had lost.

"Ha! Looks like you've been beat!" Gary guffawed, recalling his triumphant Charmander back into its ball.

I kneeled down to Snare's side, horrified by the shredded hide that Charmander left behind. Blood pooled in the dirt near my shoes. Gary approached us as I tried to stifle the bleeding by putting pressure on the cut.

"You better toughen up, noobie, or I'll kill your pathetic plant next time. Smell ya later." And with that, Gary walked off.

Kill? Is that what was at stake here? I pieced together that Pokémon battles were gruesome but I never would've guessed that they were to the death.

I looked down at Snare, trying to stomach the battle wound on his underside, and trying to be grateful for the mercy Gary had just shown me in sparing Snare's life in the first several minutes of our partnership. Oak had made this Pokémon journey sound like a quaint little field trip, something kids do for fun and tell their parents about when they got home. But that wasn't the case. This was a brutal test of survival, and I knew it now.

I realized that Gary was right; we'd have to toughen up. Otherwise, we wouldn't survive in this world.

* * *

**Before people start getting upset about my choice of starter, I have to inform you that the choice was entirely randomized by a coin-flipping progress. I'm too far into the story at this point to change that. And frankly, I like Bulbasaur!**

**By the way, the nicknames I use in my Nuzlockes are generally references to mythology, science, history, literature, popular culture and a bunch of other stuff.  
**

**Basically, I won't name a Pikachu "Billy" and be satisfied with it. I feel like names need to mean something and be relevant.  
**

**Anyway, I hope you're enjoying it so far. Writing is certainly a lot more fun than I originally thought it would be.  
**


	3. The Gym Challenge

Chapter 3: The Gym Challenge

It was about a week ago when Gary and his Charmander thrashed Snare within an inch of his life.

After Gary left, I called for help. Luckily, since we were right outside of the lab, one of Professor Oak's aides heard us immediately and came rushing out. He pulled an orange bottle, similar to the purple ones I had in my bag, out of his coat and sprayed Snare's wounds. The tissue healed well, but Snare will always have a scar on his belly to remind him, and me, how dangerous this world really is. I don't like to think what would've happened if the aide hadn't made it to us in time…

Shortly after that, Oak gave me an invention of his. He called it a Pokédex. It's a sort of handheld electronic encyclopedia of all things Pokémon. It stores information about all of my encounters, and is even capable of identifying the species, gender and strength of Pokémon I encounter. Oak gave me the Pokédex as a research aid, both because I was new to this world and needed to learn everything I could about it in order to survive, and also because Oak himself was still learning new and fascinating things about Pokémon.

"There are hundreds of species out there, all related to each other in some way" he explained. "We classify Pokémon by shape, by color, by habitat. Most importantly, we classify by Type."

Oak and the Pokédex gave me a wealth of information that I memorized quickly. It was critical to surviving. I learned everything about Types, about status conditions, about the distinction between physical moves, special moves, and stat moves.

Then, Oak handed me my own Pokéballs. He taught me how to catch Pokémon, and then how to care for them. Inside the Pokéballs, I found inscriptions on the metallic casings. They were mostly information about the company that produced them, Silph Co. based in Saffron City, but also an addendum from the Pokémon Ranger Association of Kanto. The addendum reads:

_"On behalf of the native Pokémon of the Kanto region, _  
_we, the Pokémon Rangers, respectfully request that all trainers _  
_within regional jurisdiction refrain from excessive capturing of species. _  
_The Rangers Association recommends this guideline to all trainers: please refrain from capturing more than one species in a given area. _  
_This is crucial to both the well-being of individual species, so as to avoid endangerment and extinction, and for the well-being of the ecosystem in which they coexist._

_With humble thanks,_

_The Pokemon Ranger Association of Kanto"_

Well, if it's for the good of the Pokémon, I'll do it.

Once I had learned everything I could, and Oak had finished equipping me, I went on my way, down the route that Gary blazed the day before.

I'm now in Viridian City. It was only a day's walk from Pallet Town, and is certainly much larger. Here I found a Pokémon Center which functions as a free hospital for Pokémon and temporary lodging for their traveling trainers. Along the way to Viridian City, I captured a Pidgey, who I named Icarus. He was a bit of a handful; a hot-headed and prideful little bird. I decided to stay in Viridian City for a few days to train them up and also to learn more. The woodland beyond Viridian, named Route 2, is where I caught my third Pokémon; a Rattata, who I named Remy. It was after Remy's capture that I noticed that the Pokéballs had a sort of indoctrination effect. Pokémon who will battle you for their lives before being captured will suddenly die for your protection once they come out of the Pokéball for the first time. What goes on in there? Is it hypnosis, or brainwashing? These thoughts didn't make me feel very good about catching Pokémon. But Snare, Icarus and Remy seemed happy with me, so maybe it was for the better.

During our stay in Viridian, I got a Town Map from the nurse at the Pokémon Center. Her name was Joy, and she was immensely helpful in getting me to learn the lay of the land in Kanto. Learning the geography was just another part of surviving. Of all the features she pointed out to me, one stuck out. It was a mountain, far to the west of Viridian City, but nevertheless clearly visible, towering above the clouds.

"That's Mt. Silver" she explained to me while we were sitting outside the Pokémon Center one afternoon, where I observed Snare learning to aim his new Leech Seed technique. "It's the tallest mountain in our region, and the most spectacular. It's also where we draw the border between our region and Johto, our western neighbors. They like to think that Mt. Silver is really on their side of the border, which is fair, given that we have the Indigo Plateau on our side."

I wasn't really listening. I simply stared into the distance at the bright gray peak crowning the dark clouds in the horizon. Something about that mountain, that peak, was captivating.

"Has anyone ever climbed it?" I inquired. Joy shook her head.

"Many advanced trainers like to go and train near the base of the mountain. But reaching the summit has so far not been done."

I nodded. "You said Johto was to the West. What about around us on other sides? What's over there?" I asked, indicating with my thumb behind us, pointing to the East.

"Yes, there are other regions that way. Fiore, Almia and Oblivia, to be exact. That's where the Pokémon Rangers started out. Eventually their administration spread to all of the known regions." she said. "To the South are the Sevii Islands, and larger island-based regions called Hoenn and Sinnoh. Beyond them is just endless sea, at least as much as anybody knows."

"So are we on an island like they are?" I continued to press her for all that she knew.

"It doesn't seem like it. Kanto and Johto occupy a small space of a larger mainland. We don't really know what lies North of here, but we're pretty sure it isn't ocean. If we are on an island, it's likely very very large, practically a continent."

We sat there together, pondering about what other things are lying undiscovered around us while Icarus began to exercise his wings by practicing Gust a few times. I was feeling confident. I've been meticulous and careful since the battle with Gary, and my Pokémon have become much stronger than they each were on their own when I acquired them. It was time to move on.

"Wait a minute, you mentioned an Indigo Plateau, didn't you?" I realized that when I was concentrating on Mt. Silver, I hadn't let Joy's words sink in, and I was just now processing what she had said a few minutes ago.

"Yeah, that's where the League is" was her reply.

"What league?"

"Don't you know about the Pokémon League? The Elite Four? Not even the Gym Leaders?" I found myself shaking my head at each of her inquiries. None of these terms ever came up when I was consulting the Pokédex.

"Well, spread throughout Kanto are eight Pokémon gyms. They used to just be training facilities devoted to a specific Type. Then, some time ago, Silph Co. funded a competition, what they called a Gym Challenge. The challenge was to get medals of recognition from each gym in the region, and everyone who qualified would be entered into a tournament. The winner would crowned the Kanto Champion. Silph Co. sponsored the whole event, and the success was incredible. Hundreds and hundreds of trainers participated, and the gyms that were once boring and run-down became the most popular buildings for each city. They got huge expensive renovations and became symbols of the fortitude of their representative Type. The Gym Leader of each Gym is usually a family member of that Gym's founders, and they're combat specialists of their Types. Beating a Gym Leader in a Pokémon battle was how you got your badge of qualifiaction for the League. Much of this was televised, and the Gym Challenge became the most exciting thing for all of us here in Kanto."

I have to admit, this all sounded really interesting, but…

"You said this was a long time ago. Where does the Elite Four come into this? And what about the Plateau?"

"Well, when the Gym Challenge was funded, the final competition was brought to a four-way tie. The brackets that were made for the tournament came to a stand-still when four different trainers were able to beat some but not all of the other three. There was no way to crown a single Champion, so Silph Co. simply redistributed the title as the Elite Four. Those four trainers are considered the toughest in the region. They live at the Plateau, where the tournament for all the gym qualified trainers took place."

"Wait, they're still there?"

"Yes"

"Why?"

"They're waiting"

"Waiting for what?"

"For a Champion"

This Gym Challenge was starting to sound rather ominous. The very idea of four powerful trainers locked in equilibrium with each other seemed very mystical, almost like the sort of stuff legends would cook up.

"So the competition is still going? The Elite Four are just sitting up there waiting to be beaten?"

"The challenge continues until there's a Champion. Those were Silph Co.'s original rules. The Elite Four can't beat each other. But until any person can defeat all four of them, they're stuck up there, forced to face challenger after challenger, until they're all beaten and a Champion is born."

"And no one has been able to do it so far?"

"No one."

We sat in silence. The sun had set a long time ago, and my Pokémon were already sleeping in the grass.

"Where's the nearest gym?" I finally broke the stillness between us.

"It's here, in Viridian City."

"Really? Here? I didn't see anything that looked like a gym while I've been here."

Joy gave a sigh, as if mentioning the gym was painful. "It's been closed." she explained. "There were no challengers for years, so the gym leader simply picked up and left one day. Nobody knows where he went, but the gym couldn't operate without a leader, and he had no family to take the position. Eventually the gym was closed."

"So…then where's the next one?"

Joy looked at me and gave a quizzical look. "It's in Pewter City. That way…" she pointed north "…through Viridian Forest. If the gym is still running there, you'll find a leader to challenge."

I appreciated that Joy wasn't going to question why I was asking her about the specifics of the gyms. But suddenly I realized how I was going to survive in this world. I had to make it known that I wasn't someone to mess with. I had to become tougher, and I had to become public, so that everyone knew who I was. There was only one way to accomplish both.

I had to become Champion.

* * *

**I don't know about you guys, but I've always wondered about where exactly the Gym Challenge came from and why it even exists. It seems too organized and important to just "be", you know? Anyway, this is just a taste of my fictionalized history, I'll get more detailed about it , and more, in chapters to come.**

**I also tried to work in the second Nuzlocke rule to be part of the actual laws of Kanto. How'd I do?  
**

**As far as nicknames, I can leave short etymologies for people who are curious about why I have such weird ones.  
**

**Snare: A double-reference to the Devil's Snare plant from the Harry Potter series and to a plant-based warrior from the XBox 360 game "Kameo: Elements of Power"  
Icarus: A character in Greek mythology who escaped from a tower by building himself a pair of wings using mostly wax. He flew too close to the sun, causing the wax to melt and plummeted into the ocean.  
Remy: Referencing the character from Pixar's "Ratatouille". In a previous Nuzlocke, I captured a Raticate who I nicknamed Emile, from the same movie.  
**

**Hope you're enjoying it!  
**


	4. The Forest

Chapter 4: The Forest

Joy seemed rather put off by my sudden obsession with claiming the gyms and becoming the Kanto champion. It seems that she thought I was above that sort of goal.

I guess she was wrong.

At the crack of dawn, I packed up all the things I had dispersed in the small room of the Pokémon Center's lodging area. I think I did a rather good job tidying up. It's like I was never there. Before leaving for good, I polished the Pokéballs for Snare, Icarus and Remy, still wondering how exactly they could exist inside of them. If there was any piece of technology that was more enigmatic than a Pokéball, I had yet to see it. I snuck out of the Center in the early morning. Joy was already awake, but she didn't seem interested in seeing me off; I heard her in the backroom checking on Pokémon eggs as I was exiting through the front door.

With that, the next stop was at the Pokémart. I spent some time of the last week in Viridian City working at the Center, in order to pay for my stay. Getting out early meant I avoided another day's cost, which I instead used to stock up on food and medicine for the upcoming trek through Viridian Forest. Just a few potions and antidotes. My research informed me that the forest was full of Weedles who were notorious for their poison. I made doubly sure I was prepared for that.

Exiting the Pokémart, I found myself facing in the exact direction of Mt. Silver and the Indigo Plateau. As if possessed, I began to walk forward. Maybe being closer will make it feel more tangible, maybe if I could spot where the Elite Four sat waiting to be dethroned, I could feel closer to my goal. My thoughts were interrupted by a strict voice from beyond a small rocky drop ahead.

"No, Charmander! You are NOT supposed to _actually_ use your Ember! Just…I don't know, blow some smoke or something." I recognized the voice. It's been a week since I heard it last.

Gary was training.

I crept closer to the source of the sound. I heard an exclamation of "Try it again!" and then a Pidgey rose above the rocks in front of me, dodging what looked like rings of thick black smoke.

"Keep it steady, Pidgey!" I could see Gary now. He was standing next to his Charmander about fifty feet in front of and below me. Charmander was blowing the smoke rings that Pidgey was trying to dodge, with limited success. I guessed Pidgey must've been a new capture of Gary's. Did he have more Pokémon? A closer look at his belt suggested no; only two balls were holstered there.

Charmander was having a hard time keeping up with the smoke rings; they must've been training for a long time. The flame on his tail flickered and sputtered. Gary noticed, and yelled "Alright, stop!" The Pidgey landed in a heap next to Charmander, his feathers ruffled and matted.

"What's the matter, can't take a few extra training hours?" Gary jeered at his exhausted duo. "I thought I was raising winners! I thought I was going to make warriors out of you two!"

Warriors. Something about that word didn't make me feel quite right. Pokémon certainly weren't pets, but they weren't weapons either. They were…well, I wasn't quite sure how to define it, but treating them like tools of battle certainly was not the right approach.

I raised myself from my crouched position by the rocks, and walked back. So far, everything I knew about Gary had sickened me. I didn't want to associate with him if I could avoid it, and today I could certainly avoid it.

With my bag full of fresh supplies, there was only one more stop before heading out: I wanted to see the old gym. I headed north along a path, toward the city's exit, and spotted the gym to my right, on a slightly elevated ridge overlooking the path I was currently on. Even from a distance, I could see Joy was right; the gym hadn't been occupied, or even taken care of, for several years. Windows were broken, paint was peeling, the automatic doors at the entrance were stuck open. Looking at it now, I couldn't even guess what kind of Type the gym associated itself with.

I briefly wondered about the leader who had abandoned it. Who was he? Where did he go? How could someone as popular and undoubtedly prosperous as a Gym Leader have no family to take his job? Where was he now?

The most important question lingering in my mind was whether I would be able to challenge him at all. He could be dead, or retired, or in a different region entirely. All I could do was hope that he would reappear.

I continued north. As I walked past the city gate, I suddenly felt lonely in the half-lit woods. I popped open the Pokéball at my waist and let Snare come out. It looked like I just woke him; his eyes were opening slowly, first one, then the other, and he bared his small fangs in what I assumed was a yawn.

"Come on, Snare" I commented to him, continuing my brisk pace up the hill. "If we don't slow down, we can reach Pewter City in two days."

Snare nodded, but I could tell he wasn't really listening. He was far too groggy.

After a few minutes of trekking, and keeping Snare on his toes by randomly ordering a Leech Seed attack (which he had now mastered to pinpoint accuracy, such that he could shoot snoring Pidgeys out of their nests), we reached the gatehouse to Viridian Forest. I called Snare into his ball, and entered.

A ranger sat behind a counter. He wore a burgundy uniform with gold buttons, and a very tired expression. Jeez, it's an early morning for everyone today…

The ranger started listing off rules, reminding me that the forest was really more of a park or a nature reserve then a wild untamed thicket. He asked for my Trainer Card, which I presented, and he let out a short sigh.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"Aw, nothin'. Just makes me sad to see all them little squares at the bottom there empty and such."

I glanced down at the card in his hand between us. Sure enough there was a row of eight blank squares along the bottom edge of my card.

"Why does it make you sad? It's just a border"

"Nah, that's where them gym badges used to go. Back when people still cared about that stuff." The ranger gave another sigh and returned my card.

_Well, they won't stay empty for long_, I thought to myself as I bid the ranger a good day and passed out of the gatehouse and into the forest.

My first thought upon entering the interior of Viridian Forest was that I was certainly wrong about this being a park. This was live, wild, authentic forest, nearly untouched by people. The rangers must've been incredibly careful to protect the environment with their borders without interfering in it. I certainly applauded that of them; it couldn't have been easy.

The forest was lush and thick. The canopy of the trees blotted out the rising sun, leaving most of the forest floor dark. Breaks in the leaves above formed thin slits for rays of light to pass through and cut the misty air in front of me into bright ribbons. A wide array of Pokémon cries rang out from among the trees. I recognized a few of their calls, but most of them were new and foreign to my ears.

I shifted my pack in anticipation. I set off, my sneakers rustling the underbrush and sending Rattatas scurrying into the burrows networked into the roots of the trees. A small flock of Pidgeys sat on a nearby tree branch, plucking berries for their breakfast. More interesting than the species I've already seen where the ones I haven't. A row of yellow cocoons suspended from the leaves of a particularly large fern were identified by my Pokédex as Kakunas. A thick green worm inching its way up a tree trunk was identified as a Caterpie.

Yeah. Caterpie will do.

I holstered the Pokédex and swapped it for Icarus' Pokéball and released him from the orb. Icarus appeared on my shoulder, where I turned to him and said "Icarus, I need you to Tackle that Caterpie off the tree so I can catch him. Can you do that?" Icarus gave a firm nod, then took off from my shoulder. Accelerating toward the fat green bug, Icarus loosed a shrill battle cry, and knocked the Caterpie right into the ground. It was a solid hit, and within seconds, I unholstered a second Pokéball, this time an empty one, and chucked it in Caterpie's direction. The hinge opened, and Caterpie vanished in a flash of red light. The Pokéball landed with a clink on the forest floor and began to wobble.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The red light dimmed, and a firm metallic shutter sealed Caterpie inside the ball.

I flicked my cap out of my eyes. "And that makes four."

The next several hours were spent bringing my new Caterpie, who I named Aporia, up to speed with the rest of the group. He got along fine with Snare and Remy, but was wary of the bird that knocked him off a tree. Admittedly, Aporia wasn't very capable at first. She had no special abilities of which to speak, aside from firing string with limited accuracy. Over time, she streamlined her shots, and began to take certain battles with wild Pokémon on her own.

The most shocking part of the first day in the forest was when Aporia suddenly stopped moving after stringing up and ramming into a wild Weedle. As the opponent slinked away, Aporia's eyes widened and her body stiffened. The segments of her worm-like body began to secrete a thick green gelatin-like substance that quickly encased her whole body. At some point in the bizarre transformation, her body was engulfed in a white light, which faded seconds away to leave an emerald cocoon in Aporia's place. Dumbstruck by the metamorphosis, I whipped out the Pokédex, ordering an explanation to what had just happened.

Evolution, apparently.

It seems that whatever energy drives the biology of Pokémon can occasionally become built up inside the organism. When this happens, the Pokémon's body can't contain the stored energy, and so certain structures need to be torn down and rebuilt. The same principle applies to people who try to lose weight or build muscles, but it is not nearly as drastic as in the Pokémon's case. For Aporia's case, it seems the Metapod she had evolved into was only a transitional state. Her final form would be so drastically different from her original that it would take an entire new species between the two to properly reformat her body.

Needless to say, I couldn't wait.

More training and traveling followed this exciting event. I was glad that Aporia's new state didn't stop her from fighting, as she still retained her moves while also learning how to hold up a quick defense by Hardening her shell.

I was just having Snare beat around a few other Metapods for training when a voice rang out behind me.

"Hey! Wanna battle?"

I turned. A young boy, about half my age, was standing several feet away. He was wearing sandals, shorts and a light shirt, with a wide hat on his head and a wider net over his shoulder.

"Who, me?" I was confused. Why would a stranger challenge me to a battle just on a whim? Didn't he know the stakes?

"You see anyone else here?" Wow, for a little kid, he has some spunk.

"Alright, you're on. What are we battling for?" I don't know why this question came out, and I don't think I wanted an answer. He gave one anyway.

"Money. And fun." Fun? How is survival fun? And why go out of your way to compromise it?

We stood several paces apart. The kid was making an effort to stare me down but luckily, I didn't have a phobia of 8 year-olds with bug nets. He pulled a Pokéball from his pocket and tossed it. The beam of light assembled into a Weedle, identical to the several I had already used as fodder for my team. And because of that, I have the advantage.

"Come on out, Icarus!" I announced, loosing my own Pokéball from my hand. Icarus was already in full flight when the light reformed. He made a single loop over my head, then came back around at full speed.

"Tackle!"

An instant later, Icarus had collided with the Weedle, who soared several yards back. Shockingly, unlike a wild Weedle who would have escaped at the earliest possibility, the trained Weedle shook it off and scuttled back into the field.

"Poison Sting!" commanded the young trainer. Instantly, the Weedle coiled its tail, and catapulted itself into the air, stinger forward, right for Icarus.

"Dodge!" I yelled, an instant too late. The stinger made contact with Icarus' wing, and I could tell the venom was successfully injected. Icarus was looking drained of energy already; Weedle's poison was incredibly potent. I called Icarus back immediately.

"I'll take that as a forfeit" smirked the kid.

"Not yet…" I responded, already unsheathing Snare's Pokéball.

A moment later, Snare was on the ground, feet firmly planted into the forest floor, waiting for battle.

"Poison Sting, again!" repeated the trainer, and Weedle once again launched himself toward my Pokémon. This time, I was ready. Right when the stinger made contact with Snare's skin, I ordered a Leech Seed. The bulb on Snare's back popped open and three brown pellets fired into the Weedle. The force of the impact sent him rolling back to his trainer's feet.

"Wait, why isn't he poisoned? I saw the stinger!" The trainer's confusion was understandable. Weedle's stinger did indeed make a wound in Snare's hide, but it was just a minor poke. The venom wouldn't work in Snare's body, as he too was Poison Type. This trick only made itself known to me after several other Weedle fights in the forest. I was glad for the experience.

Meanwhile, the pellets lodged in Weedle's body began to sprout. Tendrils burst from the fresh wounds and wrapped themselves viciously around his entire exposed body. The sight was rather frightening. The bug was essentially being consumed by a plant from inside its own body. Once the thin vines wholly surrounded the tiny worm, they squeezed. After a short struggle, the Weedle's body fell limp, and I was sure I saw the fresh wound from its stinger in Snare's skin mend itself. I decided then that "KO by Leech Seed" was near the top of my list of "Things I May Have Nightmares About Later".

"I s-still have one m-more!" sputtered the trainer. He was clearly disturbed by the gruesome end his Weedle had just met. There was no point in calling it back now. He simply withdrew another Pokéball and let it fly.

Out popped a Caterpie.

I recalled Snare and let Icarus back into the fray. I gave up the chance to launch an attack on the new foe to spray Icarus with some of the antidote I had bought earlier. The mist seeped into his feathers and skin, and I could tell the poison in his blood had been neutralized.

In the meantime, the Caterpie chose to String Shot Icarus. While certainly slowing us down, Icarus had no problem shredding the silk with his beak and taking to the air. Coming back around just like earlier, he picked up speed just in time for me to call "Tackle!"

And another direct hit quickly followed. Caterpie was launched into the trunk of a tree behind his trainer, where he squirmed until, just like his predecessor, he fell limp.

Upon recalling Icarus, I realized this was my first battle against another trainer since when Gary and I first started our journeys about a week ago. This was my first victory! I mentally congratulated myself, but the triumph was short-lived.

I had never actually killed another Pokémon with my own before. The wild Pokémon I trained against were never even mortally injured; just thrashed around a bit so that my team could better build their strength and accuracy. None of them were actually hurt, let alone killed. Once again, the thought of battling to the death came back to me, and I remembered the ferocity with which Charmander injured Snare that first day. He was going for the kill. That's how it works.

I looked up at the trainer whom I had defeated, but he was gone. There was some money on the ground, where he once stood, and the husk of his Caterpie had been removed from the tree. Weedle's was barely visible anymore, but I saw the dense growth where he landed after the Leech Seed made contact. I was positive that his remains were somewhere in the rapidly growing vines that Snare produced from the attack. Shuddering again at the thought, I pocketed the money, shouldered my pack, and went forward.

Maybe Gary was right. Maybe it's better to make warriors.

* * *

**Easily my longest chapter so far. I think I'll make this a standard length from now on. **

**Caterpie's/Metapod's nickname, "Aporia", comes from a Greek word which basically translates to "confusion" or "doubt". I named her this in anticipation of her evolution into Butterfree and the first move she learns upon evolving. Let's hope she makes it.  
**

**'Till next time.  
**


	5. Battle on the Rocks

Chapter 5: Battle on the Rocks

We eventually managed to get out of the forest and out to the other side. My team had successfully overcome every obstacle, from being repeatedly poisoned by the native fauna to numerous grueling battles with other trainers we found camping in the forest. The group had become hardened and tough, certainly improved from how they were before trekking the forest. Snare had learned how to manipulate the vines that grew inside of his bulb both as weapons and as appendages. Remy developed a sort of bloodlust once he started using his teeth more in battle instead of just tackling everything that moved. Icarus, on the contrary, became calmer. As his strength increased, so did his confidence in flight and combat. He didn't need to be cocky.

Aporia underwent a second dazzling transformation in the forest. The cocoon stage lasted only several hours before a splitting down the back and releasing, in a flash of light, a fully matured Butterfree. Aporia looked very happy with her new freedom. She and Icarus practiced flying in small circles as we traversed the underbrush. She eventually developed a new psychic technique which became incredibly useful when dealing with the pesky Weedles.

Even though she was the newest addition to the group, I could feel she was also the most envied. In just a day of having joined us, Aporia reached the final stage of her evolutionary cycle, while the others didn't even seem close. Snare nervously checked his bulb, wondering if it would ever bloom, while Icarus and Remy were growing tired of their small, weak bodies that restricted their blazing fighting spirits.

"Soon, guys. I promise. As your trainer, I swear that you'll become mature and powerful in no time, or my name isn't Mike." My oath seemed to satisfy them.

Speaking of my name, it seemed that it wasn't Mike. At least, not anymore. In crossing the forest and defeating any trainer who interfered, I had developed a reputation of ruthlessness. Since there wasn't much time for formal introductions before loosing our Pokémon on each other, the other trainers simply began to refer to me as "Red", for the obvious reasons. The minimal effort I spent in defeating them didn't help the image they formed of me being a bloodthirsty jackass.

This bothered me, not because of the name, but because I really was doing everything I could to avoid hurting their Pokémon. I only kept up the offense until I saw that victory was mine, and then called my Pokémon back. Neither I nor any of my team killed another living thing since the first battle with the boy and his two bugs. I specifically instructed my Pokémon that they should never deliver a killing blow if they could avoid it. They didn't understand, but I did: if I showed mercy, then maybe I would get some back when I finally met someone who I couldn't beat. Showing mercy meant surviving.

Right now we're in Pewter City. The team is taking a well-deserved break in the Pokémon Center while I stroll through the streets, speaking to locals and learning everything I could about anything they had to say. I didn't want to bring up the Gym Challenge to anyone just yet; we weren't ready.

I found a museum of natural history and decided it wouldn't hurt to spend some time inside. I certainly didn't regret it; the exhibits of extinct Pokémon and meteorites and archeological treasures was truly amazing. The fossils were especially interesting. Pokémon of ancient times, once fierce and powerful, were now remembered by the footprints they left in rocks and their bones buried deep underground. It was truly remarkable that we could excavate their remains and rebuild their bodies, as if they could walk among us again one day. Wouldn't that be something…

The sun was setting, and the team and I were running last-minute drills for my gym challenge the next day. On the way back from the museum, I walked by it. The gym wasn't in nearly as bad a condition as the Viridian gym. While still looking dusky and unkempt, it at least looked inhabited, or at least mildly taken care of. The Type was obvious, from the stone-gray walls to the jagged obsidian bordering the entrance and the sculpture of an Onix (probably carved out of onyx, I thought) glaring at the passers-by. This was a Rock-type gym.

I knew that Snare would be my ultimate weapon in the coming battle, but the more I considered it, the more I realized that it wasn't really worth it to get the others involved. Icarus and Aporia were both naturally weak to Rock-type attacks, and Remy, even if he could survive a direct hit, wouldn't be able to make a dent in the opponent with his limited Normal-type attacks. It would just be me and Snare. A perfect first test to our bond as trainer and Pokémon.

Once I was confident Snare had mastered his latest Vine Whip technique, I let him go to sleep. I, however, had some research to do. The computer in the Pewter City Pokémon Center had limited Internet access, so I was able to find some information about the Pewter Gym and its leader. It seemed the Leader's name was Flint. A picture appeared under his name, and I saw that he was a dark-skinned man with narrow eyes and jagged black hair, quite like the obsidian spikes outside his gym. The website described him as a fierce opponent, both in offensive and defensive techniques. There was no information on his Pokémon.

"Of course" I thought. Silph Co. wouldn't have wanted challengers to have too much information about their opponents during the competition, so they didn't provide any information about the Gym Leader's rosters. Just basic descriptions and biographies about the Leaders themselves.

That's fine. I had Snare, and Snare had some killer Grass-type moves. No Rock-type gym would be a problem.

I sat in front of the glowing monitor, imagining what my first gym challenge would be like. I imagined Flint, his eyebrows knit in concentration, as his Pokémon flunk boulders at Snare, who pushed them effortlessly out of the way with his vines, nailed them with a few Leech Seeds and drained their life force. I hadn't forgotten about my strict no killing rule, but I didn't want the Gym Leader to know about that beforehand. I didn't want to come off as a pushover.

It was dark now. The dead of night. As I was about to shut off the computer when I realized something. The page I was one had information about gym leaders. Maybe, just maybe…

I furiously typed "Viridian Gym" into the search bar. After a few seconds of searching, I found a link that matched exactly what I searched. Excitedly, I clicked it. A ping souned from the monitor, and a small window appeared under my cursor.

"We're sorry, but the page you are searching for is not available."

I closed the window and stubbornly tried the link again. The same ping and window reappeared immediately. Looks like this mysterious Gym Leader wasn't eager to have people looking him up. I'll find him eventually. Once I defeat Flint tomorrow, he'll know he has a challenger waiting for him, and he'll come back. He has to.

I shut off the computer and went to bed. I felt ready.

The following morning found me and my team enjoying a hearty breakfast in the Center. I gave Snare a larger portion of PokéFood than usual, much to the others' dismay. However, they seemed to like the fact that they had the day off from training.

After breakfast, Snare and I exited the center and made our way towards the gym. It was a bright sunny day, not a cloud in sight, and the people on the streets seemed cheerful and warm. I had a good feeling about this. Snare seemed to share in my enthusiasm, carrying a big goofy grin on his face and waving his vines happily in the air. I imagined he was doing some pre-battle stretches, and that only served to enhance my mood.

Upon reaching the gym, Snare stopped to observe the large Onix statue at the entrance. He curled his lip and growled at it. Massaging his bulb, I got him to stop and assured him that the statue wouldn't be a threat to us. The doors slid open and we entered the gym. The lights were on, but flickery and faint. We followed the air-conditioned hallway past several rooms. I peeked inside as we walked. One of the rooms, labeled "Accuracy", had a stack of large boulders in the corner with a bullseye painted onto the back wall. Another marked "Stamina" had simply a large pit with stalactites ringed around it. The third door showcased a row of Squirtle cutouts with gun barrels coming out of their mouths. I assumed they were water guns. The sign above this door read "Evasion".

"They're training exercises" I whispered to Snare. He seemed just as interested by the various rooms as I was. But we weren't here to train.

Continuing down the hall, we came to a set of metallic double doors. The word "Arena" arched over them in imposing steely letters. I looked down at Snare and saw the muscles under his leathery skin rippling with anticipation. Let's do this.

I pushed the doors open and stepped into an enormous brightly lit room. A dusty gray landscape extended in front of me, riddled with small craters and ridged with what looked like small mountain ranges. The walls on either side were coarse and tall, reaching towads the ceiling, where bright lights shone out of the tip of faux stalactites. Frankly, the arena looked more like a cave, but I guess that was the intention. On either side of the room, camouflaged into the stony walls behind them, were seats. For spectators, I assumed. I frowned when I realized that no one was here to watch me, the first gym challenger in a generation.

My thoughts were interrupted by a whirring in a far corner of the room. I spotted a blinking red light, swiveling around in its socket to look at me. It was looking at me.

It was a camera.

"Hey!" I yelled at it, unsure if anyone was even watching me on the other end. "I'm here to challenge the Gym Leader! I'm here to battle Flint!"

My voice ricocheted off the walls and the echo was deafening. After the vibrations subsided, a door opened at the far end of the arena. I hadn't seen it there before; it was perfectly blended into the scenery. I turned to look behind me and saw the double doors I had entered through were barely distinguishable against the wall too. It's the little things like this that made me feel like I wasn't in a building.

The door at the other side of the room slid shut, and I whirled back around to face who had entered. A young man with dark skin and pointed black hair was scrutinizing me. It was hard to tell from a distance, but I could swear I saw his eyes narrow when he looked at me, as if he were concentrating.

"Are you Flint?" I asked him. The man laughed. A single syllable that rocketed through the arena, magnifying five times in volume before it dissipated.

"Flint isn't here" he called back.

"Who are you then?" I don't know why, but I felt extremely out of place questioning a man who had just walked out of a rock wall. He looked like he could crush me if Snare wasn't between us.

"I'm Brock." he stated, matter-of-factly. "Flint is my father."

I remembered what Joy had told me about the Gym Leader position being passed down through families, and realized it had been several years since Flint had actually needed to be here. I felt stupid thinking he still would. Silph Co. should really update that website of theirs…

"Well, if you're the Leader, I'm here to challenge you." My voice cracked at the word 'challenge', and even at the distance separating us, I could see the amused expression on Brock's face.

"Is that so?" He almost sounded condescending. A few moments of uncomfortable silence passed, since I chose not to answer his rhetorical question. Finally, he asked a real question.

"Why are you here?"

The question confused me. Didn't I just tell him that?

"Didn't I just tell you that? I'm here for a gym battle!" I felt that it was a childish answer. I knew what Brock was really asking me. _Why are you looking for a gym battle? What do you want to accomplish by being here? _

_Why are you chasing what the rest of us have forgotten?_

"Alright kid, I'll bite." he said. "If you want a gym battle, I'll give you one. We'll have a two-on-two match. You win, I give you a badge." Brock must've purposely not stated what would happen if I lost. I didn't want to think about it. It wouldn't happen.

"I don't have a second Pokémon with me." I admitted, rather sheepishly. "It's just me and my Bulbasaur here."

"Then I guess you came unprepared, didn't you." It wasn't a question. "Should've done your homework, kid."

I smirked. If only he knew how much homework I've done.

Brock gave a firm stomp with his foot. A moment later, a pair of rocky arms popped out of the crater right in front of me, followed by a rough spherical body.

"Geodude, to me!" Brock called, and the Pokémon bounced off to its master. It truly was bizarre to see what was essentially a boulder with arms move aroud on its own accord. Snare seemed equally shocked by the sudden appearance of another Pokémon.

"Whenever you're ready." Brock's pose hadn't changed since he walked in the room. He didn't seem even remotely amused or even curious as to why there was suddenly a challenger in his gym.

"Get ready" I whispered to Snare. I wondered if the echo of the arena carried my instruction to Brock's ears.

Deep breath.

"Let's rock" I said, audibly this time. The corners of Brock's mouth lifted slightly at my pun.

"Snare, Vine Whip!"

A split second later, Snare had extended his vines to their full length.

"Go, Geodude!"

Brock's Geodude folded his arms into the side of his spherical body and began rolling at a ludicrous speed straight towards Snare.

"Block him!"

The vines came down in front of Snare and Geodude bounced off of them. It was only for a second; the instant he landed, he came back around and resumed his trajectory.

"Shoot him down with Leech Seed!"

The bulb burst open and three seeds, one after the other, hurtled out of it straight for Geodude. Each one lodged in his pockmarked surface, and immediately began to sprout. The sudden addition of tendrils to his body slowed Geodude down considerably, until he was trapped in the rapid growth.

"Follow up with Vine Whip!"

Snare lashed Geodude's body repeatedly with both vines. I could see the gashes forming in the skin (if you could call it that) from the force of the flogging. Eventually, Geodude broke free of the Leech Seed and was about to land right on top of Snare.

But Snare was quicker. Both vines wrapped around Geodude's arms, binding him in place. Then Snare whipped him forcefully against the ground.

As Snare continued to pound Geodude into the floor, I turned to look at Brock. He was visibly impressed, but seemed irritated as well.

"Well? Finish it!" he shouted to me.

"My Pokémon and I don't kill." I responded. With that, Snare retracted his vines and let Geodude go. The rock Pokémon had gotten quite a thrashing, and he looked more than a pile of rubble at this point. Pieces of his body had been broken off by the repeated contact with the ground. He certainly wasn't up for fighting anymore.

Brock seemed taken aback by my credo. Apparently it wasn't often that somebody was willing to hold back from the final blow, especially in a gym battle. I wondered how many Geodudes Brock and his father had to train and retrain when challengers repeatedly killed off the ones they battled against in the arena. Brock was probably grateful for this change now, even if he didn't show it yet.

"Very well" he finally said. There was a brief flash of red, and Geodude was out of the match. Brock pocketed his Pokéball and swiftly replaced it with another. Just one more to go…

"Come on out, Onix!" The Pokéball arced through the air and opened at the apex of its flight. The burst of light that came out was the largest I'd seen yet. The Pokémon it left behind was also the largest I'd seen.

Onix was gigantic. I suddenly realized why the arena was so cavernous and spacious; the Leader needed room for his trump card to operate.

"Rock Throw, now!"

Onix let out a gutteral roar and flicked his tail in Snare's direction. A sizable boulder detached from the tip and nailed Snare in the bulb. "That was close" I thought. A foot lower and Snare probably wouldn't have a face right now. Still, it caught him off guard, and while he stumbled to regain his balance, Brock ordered Onix to repeat the manuever.

"Rock Throw, again!"

Another flick of the tail and another boulder soaring straight towards us. Snare was ready this time. He caught the boulder in a vine, followed through around us and chucked it back towards Onix with the same speed. The boulder crashed into Onix right above the eye, causing a chunk of rock to break off his face and fall to the ground. A mighty roar informed us that we had done damage. This was exactly the opening we needed.

"Leech Seed!" I commanded, but Snare was one step ahead of me. By the time I finished my order, vines were growing out of Onix's mouth that was so wide open during his shriek of pain. The roar stopped as the spiraling plant coiled around Onix's body and head. This was clearly a weak point, because the effect of the Leech Seed was incredibly dramatic. Onix collapsed in seconds as the vines strangled him.

Brock looked worried. Onix ingested the Leech Seed by accident, which meant the damage it was doing to him would be critical if it wasn't stopped.

"Snare, cut it out! Stop the attack!" It took some effort on Snare's part, but he was able to cut off the flow of energy from the Leech Seed to himself. Just as quickly as they had sprouted, the tendrils whithered and fell away.

"That's enough" Brock said decisively. Another red flash and Onix was gone. "I've seen what I needed to see. You qualify."

Wait, that was it? I mean, I wasn't expecting it to be incredibly difficult, given the obvious Type advantage I had, and I certainly wasn't going to end this battle the way so many before me had been. But it was still a challenge, and we overcame.

Snare gave me a high five with his vine. He seemed proud of himself, and he should be; he just toppled a giant stone snake in two moves.

"Come with me, kid" Brock said. I let out a sigh of relief. I'd beaten the first gym.

Only seven more to go.

* * *

**Why yes, I did just turn a 60 second battle into 4 pages of story. No big deal.**

**Seriously, in-game, Brock was a pushover. I would've continued writing into the battle's aftermath, but it's late and I still have some studying to do tonight.  
**

**I hope you're enjoying it so far. Next chapter will be up tomorrow, and it'll be a doozy: one of our own gets taken out...can you guess who?**

**Feel free to leave comments and reviews. I welcome any criticisms you guys have. Even if you just want to say you're enjoying the story, I appreciate it.  
**

**Till next time.  
**


	6. Planning Ahead

Chapter 6: Planning Ahead

The room I followed Brock into was the only one in the gym without a rock-type motif. It was a simple office, complete with desk, chair, computer, bookshelf and a large window facing pointing out of the rear wall of the gym. I called Snare back into his ball for a properly deserved rest, and holstered his ball. On the desk was a photograph of several people who resembled both Brock and Flint. Taking a closer look, I counted the two leaders themselves, one woman (presumably Brock's mother) and seven little boys and girls.

"That's my family" Brock announced, confirming what I'd already guessed. "They can be a handful sometimes. Having seven mouths to feed can really take a toll on a guy." Brock collapsed into the chair behind his desk and gave a low sigh.

"What about your mother?" I asked, indicating the woman in the picture.

"She stays at home, watches the kids. Meanwhile I have to find and keep any job I can to pay for all of our food and bills. It hasn't been easy. Especially since the gym has been doing so poorly. Speaking of…"

Brock sounded tired. His voice didn't have the same air of confidence it did back in the arena.

"…are you going to keep this up? The Gym Challenge?"

The question lingered in the air for several seconds. I chose not to answer it. Brock already knew what I would say.

He gave a curt nod then reached under his desk "Then let's plan out your strategy. Sit down." I did as he asked, filling the other seat opposite him. Brock rummaged some more under his desk before finally pulling out a large map. I recognized it immediately, having essentially memorized my own. It was a map of the Kanto region.

"We're here" he said, indicating a red square near the northwestern corner of the map. "And you came from here" he said, indicating another near the south of the continent, on a peninsula. "And you're next destination will be here" once again dropping his finger on a third square, far to the east of Pewter City.

"That is Cerulean City. Your next gym challenge will be there."

I examined the map. The distance from Pewter to Cerulean was comparable to the distance I had already traversed coming from Pallet. _It's been 10 days_ I thought. Then I counted how many days I had spent in Viridian, and suddenly the distance seemed more manageable.

"You'll have to get through Mt. Moon" Brock said, indicating a smaller blue square located halfway between Pewter and Cerulean. "It's a rather odd mountain. Locals don't like to go close to it."

"Why not?"

"They believe the stories about aliens living there. See, a few years ago, a sizable meteor crashed into the mountain, demolishing it and leaving mostly a crater behind. People have been afraid ever since that it brought some extraterrestrial visitors with it."

I scoffed. The idea that people were afraid of aliens in a world where little kids were taught to train fire-breathing lizards and butterflies had the psychic ability to give you brain hemorrhages was amusing to me.

Brock caught my drift. "I don't believe them either. In fact, I visit Mt. Moon pretty often. It's me and my dad that brought most of the meteorological exhibits to the museum." I recalled the meteors in the museum I'd seen the day before. Brock was the one who got those? I suddenly realized the Onix sculpture wasn't crafted out of onyx like I thought, but pieces of the meteor.

"So I get through Mt. Moon, and then what?"

"Then you keep going. You'll want to take on Vermillion next, then probably Celadon…" Brock continued, listing cities and indicating them on the map. The path was barely linear and it would certainly take a few months to get through it all.

"What about Viridian?"

Brock frowned. "You'll be lucky if that guy ever comes back. Then again, the publicity you'll get from challenging gyms might get him to come back. He's by far the toughest gym leader in Kanto; he's been itching for a good fight since the Elite Four got caught in stalemate."

I was suddenly less excited about facing him. The toughest gym leader? Tougher than Brock and the six other specialists dotting the continent waiting for me to take them on?

"Oh, and you'll want to be careful about being followed."

My attention was brought back to the conversation. "By who?"

"The media of course. You don't realize how exciting it'll be when people realize someone's taking the Gym Challenge again. If you keep battling like you did today, you might get other trainers to hit the gyms too. Best case scenario, you'll cause an economic stimulus all on your own. After all, Silph Co. is still sponsoring the gyms, and if they start getting business again, they may start tossing their money around again."

Brock sounded hopeful, and it was easy to see why. More business for the gym meant more money for his family.

"Alright, but why do I have to be careful with the media?"

"They're going to sensationalize you, like they do everything. 'Rattata Infestation Found in Four-Star Restaurant', 'The Truth about Pokéfood', '10 Reasons why the Sevii Islands Should Be Your Next Vacation'." It took me a few seconds to realize that Brock was mocking recent headlines in the press. "Do you realize how droll it is to write that garbage? With a gym challenger walking around, you'll be the front page of every paper. And that's why you need to be careful."

I knew what he meant now. If I was going to become a symbol, I had to do it right. I needed a persona that would cause the region to be interested in my quest, and inspire others to do the same.

"So, if you start getting called in for interviews and stuff like that, don't be yourself. People aren't interested in that mercy stuff you pulled back there. People want ferocity, power."

There was a pause.

"Thanks, by the way" he added. "I appreciate that you held back. You have my respect as a trainer, and as a person, and you'll do good to keep that motto with the other Leaders. I'm just warning you that the public will see it as a weakness. I mean, a challenger who doesn't go for the kill?"

I thought of Gary. He wouldn't have a problem ending a fight. Did that make me weak?

There was another moment of stillness in the office. Brock was waiting for me to say something, but I had nothing to say. It seemed I suddenly had so much more to worry about. If I become a public phenomenon, then my gym matches will become televised, like they used to be. And if I don't kill my opponents on live TV, people will catch the charade. It wouldn't last long.

"What's your name?" Brock finally asked.

"Mike" I responded. I remember that before our battle, when he called out his name to me, I stubbornly refused to exchange mine. Familiarizing yourself with an opponent seemed odd. But he wasn't my opponent anymore. If anything, it looked like Brock wanted me to succeed.

"Well Mike, you better come up with a nickname for yourself quick. For all you know, the paparazzi are right outside this gym right now."

I thought. I needed a nickname. One that gave my public image an air of ruthlessness and strength, one that sounded like the name of a trainer who would go for the kill without a second thought.

"Red. My name will be Red."

Brock smiled.

"Perfect"

* * *

It was midday when I returned to the Center. After discussing the right way to handle the media with my new identity, Brock gave me the Boulderbadge as proof of my first gym victory. The small gray octagon was now pinned to the inside of my jacket, where I wore it proudly. Brock then replicated the image of the Boulderbadge as a stamp in the first square of my Trainer Card.

As I was getting up to leave, he said "There's one more thing. I'd like to give you this." He pulled open a drawer in his desk and removed from it a black disc with the number 39 etched into the surface.

"It's a TM" he commented. "It's capable of instantaneously teaching a Pokémon the move that is programmed into it. This one, TM 39, is Rock Tomb. It's a powerful move, I recommend you use it wisely. TMs are meant for one-use only. The disc will break once a Pokémon learns the move. It'll be easier to carry in this" he continued, procuring what looked like a small portable CD rack from under the desk.

"Why are you giving me this?" I asked. I had nobody on my team capable of learning a Rock-type move at the moment. It seemed like the TM would go to waste.

"All the Gym Leaders carry TMs as consolation prizes for challengers who lost. It's a sort of 'Get stronger and come back for a rematch' type thing. I want you to have it because, if this gym goes to dust, I'd rather you have everything of value in it before it does." Brock's eyebrows slanted in concentration. Even through his weary voice, I could tell he was being serious.

"Take care of yourself, Mike"

I played my encounter with Brock over and over in my mind as I packed up for the next leg of the journey. The battle, the conversation, the badge. It was all really encouraging, and I was immensely satisfied in beating my first gym without losing a team member thus far.

With spirits lifted, supplies restocked, and Pokémon eager, we set off toward Mt. Moon. Traveling through Route 3 along the way, the team took on several trainers in rapid succession. It was an intense training session, with several close calls. My bag was practically overflowing with potions, so there was never any real danger, and they knew that. I cautioned them not to get reckless, but it was hard with the utter domination that we presented to the other trainers.

I still made doubly sure to never mortally wound an opponent. I could tell some of the trainers appreciated it, but many others saw it as an insult, like they weren't worth the effort to finish off. I realized the rest of the region would perceive me the same way once the media got hooked in my story. Some would be on my side. Most wouldn't.

The team and I were making quite a lot of money from the wagers placed on each battle. As we sat down near ledge so I could stow the winnings in my wallet, I heard, for the umpteenth time, a call behind me.

"Hey! Up for a battle?"

I sighed. _No, not really_. The team was getting tired, and I didn't want to spend all my medicine before even reaching the mountain. But you can't run from a battle.

I stood and turned. The boy challenging me already had his Pokémon out, a scruffy looking bird with sharp angled feather surrounding his small face. I whipped out my Pokédex (this has become a bit of a reflex when I see a Pokémon I haven't identified yet) which informed that the bird staring me down was a Spearow.

"Let's battle" I said back to the youngster. Well…there weren't any cameras following me around yet…

"How about we skip the killing part?" I tried to play it off like a suggestion, so as not to sound desperate.

"Please, just because you're going to hold back doesn't mean I will" the trainer called back. He must've seen my previous battles on the route or he wouldn't be so confident. His Spearow shared in his enthusiasm for bloodsport.

"What's your name?"

"Calvin" he replied. He probably didn't care what my name was. That's fine, I didn't know which one I would've given him anyway.

I released Icarus from his ball. It seemed only appropriate to have two birds duke it out. Snare wouldn't fare well against a Flying-type anyway.

"Spearow, Leer!" Calvin called to his Pokémon. Wait, that was an attack? Leering? The tiny bird continued to stand, keeping his infuriated expression.

"Tackle!" Well, if he was going to have his bird stare at me, why shouldn't I beat his ass for it? Icarus collided with the Spearow, and both birds slid through the dirt, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Now Quick Attack!" Another thud informed me that Icarus' attack had hit.

"Keep it up, Spearow!" I don't get it, what is he playing at? I looked over at Icarus to see how he was doing. Not a spot of damage anywhere. I could see he was looking apprehensive about attacking the bird again. The glare was rather unnerving.

"Quick Attack again!" I ordered. The third successful hit nearly brought Spearow down. One more hit and this would be done.

"Fury Attack, NOW" I'd never heard of that move, but Spearow flared its wings open and soared like a bullet into the sky.

A direct collision with Icarus happened an instant later. His flight pattern stumbled, while the Spearow continued its ludicrous speed and came back around for another hit.

The second collision drew blood. I could see the red stains in the feathers of Icarus' wings, which continued to flap desperately in an effort to stay airborne.

Spearow wasn't done yet. It continued to circle, seemingly picking up speed, going for a third hit in a row.

"Dodge it!" I called, but it was too late. There was a sickening crunch as Spearow's beak pierced my Pokémon's wing again, causing more blood to rain down. It looked like it was broken. Icarus was losing altitude and the wing was bent at an awkward angle.

"Hold on!" I scrambled for my bag and dug for a potion. Spearow wasn't letting up. The fracture in Icarus' wing was his target, and he tracked it like a missile.

There was a fourth collision. Another crunch, louder than the first. And Icarus plummeted to the ground.

I sprinted to the wounded bird. The blood completely soaked the now broken wing. Icarus was stunned in pain. Touching his wing at all caused him to cry out. I tried to keep the lump in my throat from rising while I sprayed the wound relentlessly with potion, but nothing happened. The tendons in the wing were severed entirely. There was nothing in my bag that could heal this kind of damage.

_No…_

I looked up. The Spearow had landed at its trainer's feet, looking proud of itself and Calvin patted it on the head. Without thinking, without realizing the battle was over, I unholstered Remy's Pokéball and threw it.

"Hyper Fang!"

Remy burst from the ball and sprinted towards his target. In a split second, his massive teeth clamped down around Spearow's throat. My revenge was as quick as it was brutal.

Calvin looked horrified. I could see tears welling up in his eyes as Remy ran back to me. Calvin looked at me huddled over my dying Pokémon, confusion painted on his face, then broke off into a run back towards Pewter City.

In the time it took for Remy to end Spearow's life, Icarus had passed. He lay limp on the ground, blood oozing from his wound and pooling in the dirt. Remy slowed as he approached his fallen comrade. I could see tears forming in his eyes too.

_He's gone._ Then I started to cry.

I released Snare and Aporia from their balls so they could join us in mourning.

_It's my fault. I should've called him back. He'd done more than enough._ Snare seemed to read my mind, and he placed a vine gently on my shoulder.

And so we sat there, for what felt like hours. But the sun was still up when I finally rose. My knees ached from kneeling on the rough ground. As I carried Icarus' body back to the Center in Pewter City, I remembered that I'd promised him he would evolve.

_I promised_.

We reached the Center and the nurse there said she would take the body with utmost care. I didn't know how Pokémon funerals worked, but she informed me that dead Pokémon were shipped to Lavender Town, where they were properly put to rest and had tombstones erected in their name in a tower there.

The team and I said our goodbyes to our teammate, our friend. _He was the first one I caught._ _And he was the first to die. If I hadn't caught him, he'd be fine right now.__If I had evolved him, he would've been fine against Spearow. _There was no way to stop these thoughts from intruding. I couldn't help but wonder why it was that my first gym battle went off without a hitch, but I lost a dear friend to a psychopath with one stupid bird Pokémon.

_It wasn't fair._

_But we have to move on._

The team and I trudged back down Route 3 toward the base of Mt. Moon. I didn't want to walk alone. Thankfully, there weren't any trainers to bother us anymore. I wasn't ready for another fight.

_He's gone._

I looked down at my team.

_And who's next?_


	7. A Friend for the Road

Chapter 7: A Friend for the Road

None of the team had quite accepted the loss of one of their own yet. I think that the experience really brought them in conflict with their own mortality. The fact of the matter is every battle is one critical hit away from irreparable damage. They were walking a razor-thin line between life and death. And they knew it now.

I knew it too, and for the first time since my journey had started, I felt bothered by my lack of a human companion, a fellow trainer who wouldn't try to murder my friends at the first eye contact. I needed someone who would understand my position.

Oddly, my first thoughts turned to Gary. Where was he now? What was he doing? Was he treating his Pokémon any better?

My team and I reached the base of Mt. Moon in the early afternoon. There was a Pokémon Center just outside the cave entrance, and I decided to wait until morning to cross over to Cerulean City. We could really use a break.

I called Remy and Aporia back into their balls before stepping inside. They would need to be healed by the nurse before we hit the road again in the morning. Snare hadn't seen much battle lately like they had, so I kept him with me.

After handing the two Pokéballs to the nurse by the counter, I approached the public PC in the corner of the lobby. Each Center had computers available for free that gave access to the storage for Pokémon and items, email and a videophone service. I haven't used any of those functions yet, but I wanted to make a phone call to Professor Oak before heading into the caves.

I punched in the number he provided for me before I left Pallet Town and waited as the call was dialed. After a few rings, the monitor flashed and the professor's face appeared on screen. He hadn't changed at all since the day I left. Then again, I shouldn't have expected him to; it was only two weeks ago.

"Mike! How're you doing?" The professor looked genuinely pleased to see me.

"I'm alright, Professor!" It wasn't the right time to mention what happened to Icarus. "And yourself?"

"Nothing new going on here." He threw his arms back, gesturing to the office behind him. The same office Gary and I picked up our first Pokémon from. "Conducting research, taking calls from other scientists and so on. Speaking of which, have you been using that Pokédex I gave you? It's rather critical for my research."

"Of course I have." _Where would I be without it?_

"Well, let's see what you've got so far! Just plug it in and it'll wire all the data you've collected back over here to me."

I did as he instructed, and a progress bar popped up on the screen, leaving the professor's face comically out-of-view. In seconds, the Pokédex had uploaded its data on the professor's computer, which he was now scrolling through.

"My goodness, you've certainly seen quite a variety of species in a short time." _I have?_ I forgot that the Pokédex also records my opponents in battle. I hadn't realized the diversity of my foes the last couple of weeks, nor that I had been compulsively identifying and researching them on the device. Like I said before, it's become a reflex.

"So what can I do for you?" the professor was done analyzing the information from the Pokédex and directed his attention back to me.

Oh right. The reason I called.

"Professor, I wanted to ask you about the Gym Challenge."

"Sure, ask away!"

I hesitated, even though I didn't have a reason to. "You see, I'm doing it. The challenge. I've already got one badge, in fact." I unzipped my jacket and displayed the Boulderbadge pinned to the inside. Professor Oak raised his eyebrows. He seemed impressed.

"Anyway, I just wanted to ask you…what should I do now?"

"Well, keep going, of course!" It wasn't the answer I was expecting, but I certainly liked it. "I remember back when every other trainer around was collecting those badges. It was a great thrill to watch those gym matches on TV. I even went to watch the tournament in the Indigo Plateau."

"What was it like?" I had no idea Professor Oak was such an enthusiast for anything besides research.

"Oh, it was incredible! Pokémon and battles like you would never imagine! Watching those trainers clash was breathtaking." It made me happy to see Oak with such childlike amusement. Listening to him, you wouldn't think it was as terrifying as my latest experiences would suggest. "And the Elite Four!" he continued. "The best of the best! Their matches looked like something out of legend. You haven't lived until you've seen what the masters are capable of when they go toe-to-toe."

There was a pause. He seemed to run out of things to say.

"You know what I think, Mike?" He didn't wait for me to answer. "I think you'll make it. To the top! To the Elite Four and beyond!"

It was good to hear, but I didn't know how to respond. After all, Oak was a rather eccentric guy.

"Thanks, Professor. I'll do my best."

"I know you will." He smiled. "Next time you call me, I want to see another badge on that jacket there. Don't forget about the Pokédex though! Heavens no!"

With that, I ended the call. I caught myself smiling. The Professor thought I could become the Champion! For a moment, I felt really happy.

I decided to make another call, so I punched in some more numbers and waited.

"Hello?"

There was no video on the monitor. I guess she didn't have a home computer capable of taking videophone calls.

"Hi…Mom" I had to choke out the second word. It was difficult to call someone of whom you had no memory your mother, but something told me she would appreciate it.

"Hi sweetie, how are you? I'm so glad you called!"

She certainly sounded glad.

"Everything's alright, I just wanted to check up on you is all."

The conversation went as you would expect one between a mother and son to go, especially after a couple weeks without contact. I told her about my adventure so far, my decision to take on the gyms and the Elite Four. Like Oak, she was enthusiastic about the choice, and seemed to support me in it. Also like Oak, I didn't tell her about Icarus. Later, maybe.

By the time we said our goodbyes, the nurse had come back with my other two team members. As I approached the counter to pick them up, I spotted a man off to the corner of the lobby, pestering passing trainers. I listened in on the brief conversations while I pocketed the pair of Pokéballs on the counter and deduced he was trying to sell something that apparently nobody wanted. Curious, I decided to investigate his pitch.

"Young man, young man, would you like to buy a rare and powerful Pokémon from me?" I could sense a hint of desperation in his voice.

"What Pokémon is it?"

"A Magikarp!" His face split into a toothy grin. This was probably the most attention anybody had given him so far.

_Magikarp?_ I hadn't come across that species in my travels. I guess that would make it rare, right? And it certainly sounded powerful.

"Sure. How much?" _Couldn't hurt, right?_

"Five hundred" he answered quickly, as if he didn't want me to fully process the steep price he was asking for. The grin was gone. We were bartering now.

_Five hundred._ I had certainly made more than enough from the last route alone, but it was money that I spent on food and medical supplies while traveling. And five hundred was a bit of an obscene price. _But it's for a Pokémon_. _Someone to fill Icarus' spot._

Begrudgingly, I counted out the money and handed it over. In a flash, the stack of bills was gone, replaced by an ordinary Pokéball.

"Pleasure doing business with you." The man bowed to me, then scurried off. I examined the Pokéball in my hand, wondering whether it would be safe to open it and let my new team member out in a public Pokémon Center lobby. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited to see it, when…

"You're not very smart, are you" said a female voice from behind me. Startled, I spun around. The girl who addressed me was sitting in a chair a few feet away. Her arms were crossed over her chest, which was covered by a light blue shirt. A red skirt covered her thin legs, which ended with a pair of red and white sneakers. In her lap was a magazine she must've been reading just before insulting me, and a small turtle-like Pokémon with a curled bushy tail, the same color as her shirt, was resting peacefully at her feet.

Taking in all the details of her appearance, I forgot that she was still expecting an answer. "Why, what's wrong?" I finally responded.

She gave an exasperated sigh and rose from the chair, tossing the magazine onto a nearby table and accidentally waking her sleeping companion. I found myself staring at her legs as she gracefully approached, her Pokémon trailing at her heels, its gait clumsy by comparison.

"I'm Caroline" she said, extending her hand to me. "And you just got ripped off."

I extended my own hand toward hers, when she lifted an eyebrow in confusion. I looked down and saw her palm facing upwards. She didn't want a handshake; she wanted the Pokéball.

"How do you know I got ripped off?"

"I'll show you." She made a 'hurry up' motion with her fingers. Embarassed, I pulled my hand back and plopped the Pokéball in her palm. She squeezed the button on the capsule, and it popped open, depositing a flailing bright red fish on the floor between us. It looked like it was suffocating.

"What are you doing!" I cried, kneeling down to the dying Pokémon.

"Relax" she said calmly. "It's ok, it can breathe. It's just a pathetic thing, that's all." She was right; the fish's thrashing retained its vigor. It wasn't dying, it was just flopping around.

"What is it?"

"Magikarp. The guy wasn't lying to you. Well, not about the name, at least. It's not rare or powerful" she explained, "It's just a sad little fish that knows no attacks and is virtually impossible to train. You can't even use TMs on it. It's just a waste."

My heart sank. I just blew a ludicrous amount of money on…this.

She clicked the Pokéball again, zapping the Magikarp back inside, then handed it back to me, a satisfied smirk on her face. Even with it, she was incredibly pretty.

"So what's your name, stranger?"

"Mike" I extended my hand again, and this time she shook it. I was still upset about the ripoff, but it wasn't a tragic loss. I still had enough money to keep myself and my team afloat until we reached Cerulean City.

"This is Tank, my Squirtle" she indicated to the creature hugging her ankles, who waved up to me with a wide goofy smile. My eyes caught a glimpse of her belt, which had four Pokéballs holstered around it. _Four Pokémon, just like me_.

_Well, three, if you don't count the fish._

I guess I have a reason to use the Pokémon boxing system now.

She walked back over to the PC with me, and I placed the Magikarp's Pokéball on the pad, where it vanished in an instant. "May I meet the rest of your team?" I asked her. I was curious about what the rest of her Pokémon were like, as she was the first trainer I'd met who hadn't decided to battle me on the spot. It'd be nice to see another trainer's team in a non-hostile environment for once.

"Sure, but only if I get to meet yours. You can skip the Magikarp" she joked. "Let's go outside."

The sun was touching down over Mt. Moon, so we still had a few hours until it would get dark. In one swift motion, she unholstered three Pokéballs from her belt and tossed them in the air. They burst open simultaneously, releasing a copper-colored fox creature, a fluffy brown mammal with a bushy tail and cream-colored collar, and a Spearow, a species that I've already had the extreme displeasure of identifying.

"This is Feu, my Vulpix" she said, pointing to the fox-like creature, "Yin, my Eevee", she continued with the second in line, "and Houdini, my Spearow". The Spearow gave a polite squawk as his name was called, but I was still wary of it.

"Now let's see yours" she turned to face me. "A deal's a deal."

Just like her, I called out my three well-rested companions and introduced her to Snare, Aporia and Remy. She knelt down to greet them, patting Remy on the head and she even shook Snare's scaly paw. "Aporia is a pretty name" she said to my Butterfree "and so fitting for a pretty Pokémon like you". Aporia blushed, which made the rest of us laugh.

I was glad they got along well with her, and even more so that Caroline got along well with them. It seemed like they became instant friends, and I was grateful for that. Her Pokémon seemed very friendly with me as well, including the Spearow. Feu was soft and warm to the touch. I figured she must be a Fire-type, something my own team lacked. I scratched Houdini behind his neck, which he seemed to appreciate, and did the same for Yin's puffy collar. Tank seemed more excited than anyone else; he ran circles around our group, squawking in delight and making sure to acquaint himself with all of the new friends, including me, several times.

"I don't know about you guys" Caroline said, standing up "but I'm starving. Who's hungry?"

* * *

We ate dinner in the Center. Caroline and I ordered from the small cafeteria behind the lobby while we rationed out some Pokémon food for our hungry teams. Everyone ate together happily, and it was the first meal since I left Pallet that I actually had a good time at.

"So where are you from?" Caroline asked, stuffing mashed potatoes into her mouth.

I thought for a moment, trying to remember where I was exactly before the void that was the last thing in my memory. I realized that wasn't what she meant anyway. Telling her would make me seem crazy.

"Pallet Town." I speared a piece of meat with my fork and put it in my mouth. I had to admit, for a Pokémon Center just outside a mountain, the food was pretty good. "What about you?"

"Afwon Hity" she answered, her mouth practically overflowing with food. Realizing she might be being impolite, she swallowed and repeated herself more clearly. "Saffron City". A light blush appeared in her cheeks, but it didn't stop her from eating.

I remembered Saffron City from the map I had. It was practically in the center of Kanto. Joy told me about how it was basically the unofficial capital; Saffron was easily the largest city in the region and home to the Silph Co. headquarters, not to mention one of the gyms I would eventually need to conquer. Saffron was also a very long ways a way.

"How did you end up way out here?"

"Walked" she said curtly. A faint flicker behind her eyes told me that wasn't the whole story. I decided not to press it. It was only fair that she wouldn't divulge her biography to me if I hadn't done the same.

"I see". It was all I could say without making things uncomfortable. "Well, then, where are you going?" Hopefully that wasn't a secret.

"Wherever my feet take me." Good, she was smiling again.

"Would your feet happen to be taking you through Mt. Moon tomorrow morning?"

I could tell she caught where I was heading with my interrogation. "They might, or they might not." She was teasing me…and it was working.

I took a breath before posing my next question.

"Would you like to travel with me and my team, then?"

Her smile grew bigger, and my heartbeat increased by the smallest amount.

She pushed her hair behind her ear.

"I'd like that very much."

* * *

**What do you guys think of the new character? Where do you think this is all headed? And why am I asking YOU these questions?******

**Tank: Just a physical description of what Squirtle (we hope) will eventually become.  
Yin: A Chinese term referring to those things which are associated with light or femininity.  
Feu: The French word for "fire"  
Houdini: After Harry Houdini, a famous stage magician and escape artist.  
**

**Be sure to leave reviews to tell me what you like/don't like/hope to see/don't hope to see/whatever. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!  
**


	8. Mt Moon

Chapter 8: Mt. Moon

In the morning, I woke to find Caroline and her team already busy preparing for the day's journey. Tank was filling up pots with water from his mouth, which Vulpix brought to a boil with a steady flame. Caroline herself was repouring the water into several plastic bottles and stowing them in her bag. It made sense; we don't know how long we'll be in the caves and whether or not there'll be a source of water inside. Bringing a supply of clean water was a smart move.

"Where's Houdini?" I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and releasing my team to assist with the preparations.

"He flew into the city" she said, pointing her head towards the window. "I gave him some money and a note to fly to the Pokémart and get us some medicine." To be honest, I was impressed by her foresight.

I dressed quickly and started packing my own bag. We still had plenty of potions and antidotes (which we probably wouldn't need anymore, since Viridian Forest was far behind us) as well as a couple of Paralyze Heals that we picked up off the ground, unused.

We gathered outside, at which point Houdini came flapping back with a brown paper bag in his talons, filled with multiple colorful bottles, some that I hadn't seen before. Caroline showed me which were Burn Heals and Awakenings and Ice Heals and even Super Potions, a more concentrated mixture of the same ingredients I had in my potions. Since there was no room in my bag for the assortment, Caroline shoved the bottles in hers. We then recalled our Pokémon, and turned to face the cave entrance. For a moment, I wondered why we had to go through it at all. _Why not climb the mountain? _I looked up, and my question was answered. The crater in the summit made the mountain steep and jagged. Even with proper climbing equipment, we'd have a hard time getting over the lip of the crater.

"Ready?" Caroline interrupted my musings. I nodded, and we walked into the mouth of the cave.

The first thing I noticed was that the cave was not as dark as I had originally imagined. The crater in the ceiling left small openings to the sky where sunlight leaked through, scattering from the ore deposited by the meteorite to create a sort of sparkling discoball effect on the walls of the cave. We didn't even need the flashlight built into the Pokédex to see.

"Wow" I heard her whisper in awe. It truly was a dazzling sight. The specks of light spread around the cave revealed a row of pointed dark blue lumps protruding from the ceiling. The odd rustling coming from them made me realize that they were Pokémon; dark blue bodies with veined purple wings wrapped around them. Small heads with pointed ears poked from the bottom of the resting forms.

"Zubat" announced the Pokédex. "It has no eyes. Instead, it relies on its ultrasonic cries for echolocation to flit about in darkness."

I looked up again at the sleeping Zubat. The Pokédex was right; they had no eyes eyes. Instead, the same smooth blue skin stretched over where their eyes should have been. It was rather odd, as if the eyes were once there and were just plucked off.

"I'm going to catch one" I said to Caroline from the corner of my mouth, and I unholstered a Pokéball to illustrate my point. She nodded and took a step back, giving me room to work. I quietly released Remy and ordered him to tackle a Zubat at the end of the row, closest to us. Obviously, the Zubat woke up the instant the Rattata's body made contact with it. Zubat's response was to sink its sharp fangs into Remy's fur. It stayed latched there until Remy managed to shake it off and Tackle it again. Zubat landed with a thud on the ground, and was struggling in my Pokéball a second later. When the metal shutter sounded, I picked up the ball and released my new companion.

"Buffy" I called her, once the Pokédex scan revealed that the Zubat was female. Being the newest member of the team, Buffy was completely untrained, and training her in an unknown cave wouldn't be smart. I stowed her Pokéball, deciding to train her once we reach Cerulean…or at least exit the cave.

Caroline and I continued, occasionally picking up some useful items, such as dropped potions and a couple of new TMs. Unfortunately, since the discs were only labeled by number, I didn't know what moves they were capable of teaching. The colors gave me at least a slight hint that one of the moves was grass type, TM 09. I considered giving it to Snare, but decided it would be better to know what the move itself was first.

After several hours, we stopped to rest on a few rocks. In the time since we entered Mt. Moon, high noon had passed, and the sun was now on the other side of the mountain. I collected some valuable data of the cave species on my Pokédex, namely Sandshrew, Paras, and Clefairy, the latter being the most enigmatic. I guessed that the Clefairy were what the Pewter City residents were calling aliens, since the Pokédex provided little information beyond that they were believed to be from space.

"Whoa, look at this" Caroline squatted to the ground and began dusting the floor, revealing a large rock of a slightly lighter color than the surrounding ore. Together, we managed to pull it out of the ground. It looked familiar, but I couldn't quite tell from where.

"It looks like some kind of fossil" she said, gliding her palm over the smooth domed shape of what I assumed was at one point a shell. At that moment, there was a shout from behind us.

"Hey! Put that down!" A man in a full-body black outfit with a red R emblazoned on his chest came sprinting out of a nearby tunnel. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to touch what isn't yours?"

_She might've. I don't remember._

"We're sorry, sir. We didn't know this belonged to anyone." I bowed apologetically and turned to Caroline. "Just put it back, we don't want any trouble if we can avoid it."

"Are you crazy?" she hissed. "We can't give anything to criminals!" I didn't understand how she could make such a judgment call, but she quickly explained that too. "He's from Team Rocket! He probably stole this from the museum!"

_So __**that's**__ why the fossil looked familiar_. There were several like it back in the Pewter City museum. I remembered Brock mentioning that he brought the meteorite exhibits from Mt. Moon, so it would make sense that he brought over a few fossils he found here too.

"I didn't steal nothin'!" the man yelled back. "I found this right here, and that means it's mine, now put the rock down!" He uttered the command slowly and clearly, but Caroline didn't budge, instead tightening her grip on the fossil.

"Don't make this hard, missy" he drawled, popping two Pokéballs from his belt. Instinctively, I did the same. The grunt narrowed his eyes, and we both summoned our Pokémon at once; me with Aporia and Snare, and him with a Zubat and an Ekans. The Rocket ordered a Supersonic attack from his Zubat, but I was quicker. At my command, Aporia's eyes glowed and she released a powerful Confusion attack on the Zubat, trapping it in midair and knocking it out instantly. I didn't even need to tell Snare what to do; he seeded and tackled the Ekans on his own. The Rocket was defeated in a matter of seconds.

I heard a soft "wow" from behind me and realized that this was the first time Caroline had seen me defeat another trainer. It must've looked impressive.

"Just you wait until the boss hears about you brats." I couldn't tell if he was threatening us, but it didn't sound so scary coming from a man in spandex calling back his unconscious Pokémon and scrambling back into the tunnel.

"Mike, that was so cool!" I turned around and saw an ecstatic smile on her face.

"It was nothing, really..." I tried to be modest, but really I felt extremely satisfied that I managed to impress her so much.

"Are you kidding? You didn't even have to tell them what to do!" she gestured to my Pokémon, who apparently had just developed some new techniques. A soft purple dust was floating down from Aporia's wings, which were now streaked with the same color, in addition to a bright gold and a dusky green. Snare was releasing puffs of the same purple powder from his bulb.

"Looks like Aporia just learned some neat moves" I said. Checking the Pokédex proved me right; the new colors in her wings were actually a set of deadly toxins capable of poison, paralysis and forcefully induced sleep. Snare managed to learn the poisonpowder, but not the other two. Still, it was a dramatic increase in strength for both of them, and I was proud.

"We'd better keep moving" Caroline finally said. We wrapped the fossil in the bag from the Pokémart, and put it at the bottom of the the pack so as not to crush the water and medicines.

We didn't take more than a few steps when Caroline crumpled to the ground with a small "oh".

"What's wrong?" I shouted, alarmed at her sudden weakness.

"I think.." she sputtered past a hacking cough "...I inhaled the poisonpowder." I rushed for the pack where we kept the antidotes and handed one to her, which she promtply sprayed down her throat. The coughing stopped almost immediately, but I could tell she still felt very weak and was not in condition to travel.

I removed the pack from her sholders, lay her down on the cave floor, and took a seat by her side. "We should wait until you get your strength back" I explained.

While she rested, I could sense that Caroline was itching to ask me something. "Could you…teach me how to do that?" she said apprehensively.

"Do what?"

"You know, that." She jerked her head back toward the tunnel the Rocket ran into. "Battle. Like you."

"Nah, I'm not anything special. I'm sure you battle just as well as I do." She broke her eye contact with me.

"No, I…I don't." She sounded embarassed. "My team…they don't listen to me. I haven't trained them. I didn't even catch most of them!" I could tell we breached a sensitive topic, so I adopted a more gentle tone.

"I can teach you, but you need to tell me a few things first. How can you be a trainer if…"

"I never said I was a trainer" She cut me off.

"Then what are you? How do you have four Pokémon miles away from home if you're not a trainer?"

"Because I…" she seemed to be considering whether or not to tell me, so I sat quietly and waited.

"I ran away."

The silence between us was thick, and the only sounds in the cave were the rustling wings of distant Zubats, echoing off the walls.

I didn't want to ask the obvious question, but there wasn't anything else to say. "Why did you run away?" I didn't expect her to open up to me, but it was worth a shot.

"It's a long story" she replied, her words chosen carefully. Whatever secret she was keeping, she wasn't going to give it up just because I asked nicely. I'd have to make do with what I knew.

"And what about your team? Where did they come from if you're not a trainer?"

"Feu and Yin were gifts from my parents, when I lived in Saffron City. And after I ran away, by some miracle, I managed to catch Houdini. And Tank? Well…" she paused. I waited for her to finish the sentence, but she left it lingering in the air between us. I decided to change the topic.

"What about Team Rocket? How do you know about them?"

"They're all over the news. Don't you watch TV?" I had to admit, I didn't. Never had the time. "Well, they're a crime syndicate, and they're all over the region, doing horrible things."

"Like what?"

"Stealing, kidnapping, both people and Pokémon. Everyone is trying to figure out if all their crimes are related to each other, but it doesn't seem like it. They're just bad people who perform crimes for the hell of it."

"Well why doesn't anybody stop them?" I answered my own question in my head. There didn't seem to be any type of law enforcement anywhere. The only thing close to that were the Pokémon Rangers, but I hadn't seen a single one since I started my journey, and they seemed more concerned with ecology than law enforcement.

"The Rangers are trying, but Team Rocket is highly elusive. No one has any idea where they might be based."

Despite being rather depressing, I was grateful for the conversation. It felt like she and I were connecting, bonding.

"How about you tell me a little about _your_self?" she said, breaking the silence between us again. "What's it like living in Pallet Town?"

So I told her about my journey so far. About Oak, and Gary ("He sounds like a truly awful person. I hope I don't ever meet him"), and getting my first Pokémon, as well as losing my second one. She sympathized with the loss.

"Oh no…that sounds awful ,Mike." She laid a hand on my arm and gave me a warm smile. "I'm sure that you did everything you could, and it's certainly not your fault. It couldn't be. You're an amazing trainer, really."

"Thanks" I said, trying to keep the lump in my throat from rising. _She was right_. _I did everything I could. _I didn't want to think about it, so I continued my story. When I mentioned the Gym Challenge, her eyes grew wide.

"You're taking on gyms?" she practically squealed. "That's so exciting! I've never met anyone who beat a gym!" I unzipped my jacket to once again show off the Boulderbadge. "So that must be why you're going to Cerulean!"

"It certainly is." Well, now would be a good a time to ask as any. "Do you know anything about the gym there?"

"Not really. Nothing, actually." She apologized for not knowing. _Oh well…_

"You know" she continued "there's a gym in Saffron City. You're going to go there eventually, aren't you…"

I nodded. "I have to."

She looked downcast again, even though I knew the antidote did its job. "I always knew I'd have to go back…being on the road, alone…it's a lot harder than I thought it would be." This time it was my turn to put a reassuring arm around her shoulder. She looked up at me, her blue eyes as bright as the sparkling ore around us. "I'm really glad I met you."

"I'm glad I met you too."

Our faces were inches apart at this point.

"So…uh, shall we keep moving?" she said, picking herself up from the floor and offering me a hand.

We continued through the cave, and I began to share with her the basic points of battling, including type advantages and the like. Caroline was a good listener, and when I'd occasionally quiz her, she'd answer correctly. _The real problem,_ I thought,_ will be getting her Pokémon to listen to her._

At one point, as we walked through tunnel after tunnel, my team members taking shifts swatting aside the Zubats that continued to pester us, I spotted a bright yellow diamond-shaped stone laying on the cave floor.

"What is it?" Caroline asked, as I bent over to pick it up.

_I have no idea_. I turned the pointed palm-sized rock over in my fingers. It felt warmer than it should have been, lying on a cool stone floor. "I don't know…but it couldn't hurt to take it with us." We tried to jam the stone into my bag, but it wouldn't conform to the shape, and the bag wouldn't zip up with it inside. After a minute of effort, I simply pocketed the rock, switched out Remy with Snare for his Zubat swatting shift, and went on.

It was only a couple more hours of trekking that we finally reached the other side of the mountain. Stepping out of the mouth of the cave, we saw several ledges leading down to Cerulean City just a mile ahead of us. To the left was a large cape extending from the mainland into the sea to the east. It was late afternoon, and the sun setting behind us threw long shadows on the ground.

But everybody was exhausted, so we decided to camp out on a ledge under the mouth of the cave before heading into town. It took me while to realize that at some point in the next few days, I'd be fighting to claim my second badge. The thought was simultaneously exciting and frightening. What if I wasn't ready? I didn't have any information on the Leader. I didn't even know what Type I'd be facing. I stared off at the city, now ablaze with lights in the early evening, to catch a glimpse of the gym. It was impossible to tell which of the buildings it was, so I abandoned the effort.

Whatever the Type, I needed to train.

I pocketed Snare and Buffy's Pokéballs, and went down to a clearing below the ledge. There, I made them spar against each other, and the occasional passer-by Spearow that got too close. Buffy was clearly the more inexperienced one, and was having a hard time doing anything except flap around aimlessly. Removing her from the cave environment she likely knew all her life had significantly reduced the effectiveness of her echolocation ability. And with no eyes, she was practically flying blind.

Snare on the other hand, profited greatly from the extra training. By the end of our session, as Snare was slapping down another wandering Spearow with his vine, his body vanished under a veil of blinding light. Once it receded, I saw a bigger, stronger Pokémon fill his space. The evolved form certainly looked very similar to Snare's Bulbasaur form. The only noticeable difference was in his bulb, which was now open to reveal a large pink flower. The flower hadn't blossomed yet, however. The petals still surrounded the inside, meaning another evolution would eventually come around.

Snare seemed more confident in his new body. He was taller and more muscular, and his vines, of which there were now four, were longer and thinner, making them more effective as ropes and whips. The Pokédex identified the evolved form as Ivysaur, but to me, he was the same old Snare.

We headed back to the ledge, where Caroline and her team were already asleep."Oh well, we'll show you off to them in the morning." Snare nodded in agreement, then vanished in a burst of red light back into his ball. I lay down in the grass by my bag and stared up at the sky, wondering.

About the coming gym battle.

About Caroline's mysterious past and how I would win her trust to discover it.

About Gary and what he was doing now.

I don't remember when I fell asleep, so I don't know if it actually happened, but I could _swear_ that, before my eyes closed, I heard a scream coming from the tip of Cerulean's cape…

* * *

**I feel like this is my weakest chapter so far. If you agree, I apologize. If you don't...well, cool!**

**Buffy is obviously a reference to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Zubats look kinda vampiric, don't they?  
**

**Anyway, next chapter is already in the works. Things really start to pick up.  
**

**As always, review if you like/dislike anything. Any feedback is super appreciated!  
**


	9. Friends and Foes, Old and New

Chapter 9: Friends and Foes, Old and New

"Gross, Mike. When was the last time you washed your clothes?"

Caroline had just decided to point out that I've been wearing the same unlaundered outfit since the start of my journey over two weeks ago, and I had an awful stench about me. We entered Cerulean City just this morning and were currently getting ourselves a room in the Pokémon Center. It was a rather awkward moment when we tried to decide whether to get two separate rooms or just one for the both of us…we ended up deciding to get a single room, but ONLY because it would be cheaper.

Or so we told each other. And ourselves.

It was in the room that Caroline was inquiring about the condition of my clothes.

"Well, I haven't really…" I admitted sheepishly.

"Come on, you have a gym battle tomorrow and you never know when your face will start popping up on TV and reporters will be begging to interview you. You can't smell like you just spent the last two weeks in a dumpster. Take them off."

I was stunned by her request. _Was she asking me to…strip?_

"Uh…I think I'll just go take a shower" I tried to say as politely as I could.

"Fine, fine" she waved off my answer and continued to rummage through her pack, sorting the medicines.

It's been a while since I took a functional shower. I abused the warmth of the water so that it was practically steaming when it came out of the head. I stayed in the stall, just thinking about everything that had happened so far. The grime from the forest and the cave and the dusty routes came washing off, and I felt loads better when I knew that I was clean. Stepping out of the shower posed a problem, however…the clothes I shed before getting in had been replaced with a note on a small slip of paper:

_Left you clothes on bed. Exploring city. See you later.  
-C_

I smiled. She certainly was a stubborn girl, but I appreciated her thoughtfulness more and more.

I walked back to the room, wrapped in a towel, and found that there was, in fact, a brand new set of clothes lying out on the bed, identical to my dirty outfit. Same shirt, jacket and pants. The hat and sneakers were still my own. As I was putting on the new clothes, I noticed the tags hadn't been removed, meaning Caroline had just bought them for me while I was washing. I felt bad that she spent such a considerable sum of money on getting me a fresh look, but I resolved to pay her back.

_Where does she have all this money from anyway? She couldn't have gotten it from battles…_

Well, if she was out exploring the city, I'd go do the same.

Standing up, I felt an object in my right pocket, which turned out to be the pointed yellow rock that we found in the cave. _Caroline must've wanted me to keep this on me. _It was light enough, so I put it back in my pocket and headed out of the room. The nurse had already finished healing my team from earlier in the morning, so I holstered the Pokéballs, enjoying the familiar feeling of their weight around my waist. It was time to see what Cerulean had to offer.

The front doors of the Center had flyers posted around them, one of which advertised a privately owned daycare center in an elderly man's home. He offered full responsibility for the care (and training!) of the Pokémon left with him, at a very reasonable rate. _This would be a great way to get Magikarp up to speed with the rest of the team._ I couldn't even begin to fathom how to train the flopping fish. A minute later, Magikarp's Pokéball appeared on the pad by the PC in the corner after I had retrieved him from the virtual boxing system, and it took its place on my belt with the others.

_Whoever developed this system must've been a genius_ I thought. It was an idea that entered my head every time I was reminded that the Pokémon box system existed at all. _I wish I could meet the person who is responsible for this brilliant technology._

But, we don't always get to meet our heroes. I ended up meeting the Daycare Man just south of Cerulean's border. His name was Henry, and I asked him if he could give me some help with training my Magikarp.

"Ah yes, of course!" he was a very kind and mild older gentleman. "I've trained hundreds of Magikarp in this business, and I dare say I'm the best one at it." He palmed the Pokéball I handed him and examined it. "It certainly is a tricky one to train, but the reward is tremendous."

"What reward?" I felt genuinely curious. _What could be the reward for training a useless fish?_

"Oh, you'll see" said Henry, a gleam in his eye. "I'll be sure to contact you when the time is right."

I thanked the Daycare Man and headed back into the city. Along the way to Center, I passed by a bike store on a small street. It was a simple building, with large glass windows displaying an array of bikes under a pink and yellow awning. I had no need for a bike, but it was nice to see it there.

I checked the time on a nearby clock and saw it was still an hour before noon. _What am I supposed to do all day?_ I thought, looking around. After a few minutes of consideration, I decided to explore the cape to the north of the city. The map referred to it as Routes 24 and 25. Maybe I could find some interesting new species up there. Perhaps some trainers to help prepare me for the gym.

_The gym!_ I needed some information on my opponent tomorrow!

_Well, I still have time…I'll do it later _I resolved. Going to the cape just seemed so much more appealing at the moment.

The city's north edge led to a large wooden bridge crossing a river that fed into the sea. Even before crossing the bridge, I could tell the view was breathtaking, so I popped open the Pokéballs around my belt to let my team enjoy the scenery as well.

"Hey, what're you doing on our bridge?" a young boy addressed me from the middle of the bridge as my team and I crossed. I shouldn't call him young; he was probably within a year of my own age.

"Just crossing" I said, paying him no heed.

"You gotta battle if you're 'just crossing'." The kid mocked my voice at the last two words.

_I bet I can mess with him a little_. I could grant myself that luxury, right?

"I'll battle when I see someone worth battling" I said back to him as calmly as I could. His face turned red and he clenched his fists. _Good, I'm getting to him_.

"Oh yeah? Well you have to beat all five of us to cross!" At that moment, a posse of four other boys and girls, about the same age, approached from behind him. They looked no older than schoolchildren, and I figured this was just their way of bullying tourists or having fun. _Well, whatever they're doing, I'll bite._

"You're on" I smiled, unhooking a ball from my side.

* * *

Within minutes, I had defeated all of them. Not one of their Pokémon could take more than a single hit from my own. They were hardly trainers, and so their Pokémon were hardly trained. As per my usual method, I withheld from slaughtering them. The children seemed scared enough of my battling ability without the need to draw blood. Needless to say, I was allowed to cross.

"That was some mighty impressive battling there" commented a man, standing at the end of the bridge in a dark suit. "You're quite the trainer. How would you like to work with me?"

"That depends on what line of work you're in" I answered. Something about this man seemed very shifty…

"I'm part of an operation known as Team Rocket…" the hair on my neck prickled, but I showed no emotion on my face. He can't know that I was aware of his 'operation'. "…and we're looking for powerful trainers to help us on our quest."

"What sort of quest?" _This is my chance to get some answers._

"Nothing illegal" he assured me. "We're scientists, really. We seek rare and valuable items to sell to the highest bidder…and pocket the profits for ourselves."

I couldn't keep up my charade anymore.

"You're criminals. You're thieves and despicable people, and I will have nothing to do with your organization."

The Rocket sighed. He seemed to expect that answer from me.

"Very well" he drawled "but I would like you to have this, as a token of the good intentions of our group. Perhaps you will reconsider." He withdrew a polished golden stone from his jacket pocket. "It's a solid gold nugget, worth quite a pretty Pokédollar" he said, handing it to me. "If you join us, you'll have enough gold to line the insides of your Pokéballs…"

The man turned to leave, his long dark coat flapping ominously behind him, and he left in the direction I had come from. _I will never become a criminal like them_. The nugget dropped into my pocket, next to the curious pointed stone, and I looked over towards the cape. I hadn't realized it, but I was significantly higher up than the city now, and the view over the landscape was incredible; the city was sprawled out in front of me like an atlas, with Mt. Moon to my right, the crater in its summit made even more obvious from higher up. In the far distance I could see the skyscrapers of Saffron City. I thought about Caroline, and how I would give her the Rocket's nugget to pay her back for the new clothes.

Scanning the landscape, something caught my eye. _What is that?_ Near the base of Mt. Moon, between it and Cerulean, was an odd cave, surrounded on three sides by thin river, and the fourth side stretching deep underground. I didn't know much about caves, but there was something…_artificial_ about this one. It didn't meld with the surroundings like a natural structure would.

_It looks like it was...made._

I shook the strange thoughts from my head, turned around and continued down the cape. Really, I just wanted to reach the sea. Continuing down the windy path, taking down challengers and picking up dropped items, I approached a small cottage at the end of the route. It was a simple, cozy-looking wooden cabin. Very quaint. _I may as well stop and take a rest before heading back_.

I knocked on the door, and there was no answer. _Maybe nobody's home?_ I knocked again. Then a third time. It was fruitless, so I decided a different approach. Peeking into the window, I saw a very cluttered interior, with books, pages, strange devices scattered around the floor. _And...is that a…Pokémon?_ _It is!_

Among the piles of texts stood a rather odd-looking Clefairy. It had the shape and color of a normal Clefairy, but its eyes…they looked…_human_.

The Clefairy noticed me at the window and started gesturing wildly to the door. _Is it asking me to come in?_

I carefully opened the door and stepped inside, checking to make sure I wasn't stepping on any of the several notebooks littered at the entrance, with barely intelligible writings scribbled inside. There were sketches and equations and graphs of all sorts haphazardly written in their pages. It all looked very interesting but…_what does it mean? __What is it for?_

The Clefairy chirped to get my attention and indicated with both hands to the back wall of the cottage. There I saw two large metallic capsules, large enough for a person to step inside, connected by a tube coming out of their tops. The door to one of the capsules was ajar, revealing a brightly lit interior. Large windows took up most of the doors to both capsules, presumably for observation.

Clefairy continued to gesture to the capsules and then to the center of the room, where stood a simple computer on a simple desk. Stacks of books lined the perimeter of the desk, leaving the computer all but inaccessible.

I nodded to the Clefairy, understanding its wild gestures. Hurriedly, it hopped into the open capsule and, struggling with the heavy metal door, managed to seal itself inside. I could see the little Pokémon bouncing up and down inside through the window, still pointing to the computer on the desk. I worked my way around the room to it, checking constantly to not step on any of the several tomes carpeting the floor. Upon reaching the computer, I saw a command prompt occupying the majority of the screen:

"_Initiate molecular transfer? [Y/N]_"

_Simple enough_. I pressed the "Y" key on the adjacent keyboard, hoping that I was doing what the Clefairy had asked. A low hum filled the room. The Clefairy's capsule filled with a brief but bright light, and in the same instant, the opposite capsule popped open, releasing a thick haze into the cottage. The whole process lasted only a second. A man staggered out of the now open capsule, coughing through the smoke that dissipated across the floor and covered the many books like a blanket.

"I'm sorry for the state of my home" the man said, his cough subsiding. He had curly brown hair and was wearing a pressed blue button-down shirt. He looked very professional, but my attention was drawn to his eyes; they were the same as those of the Clefairy I had just zapped into oblivion.

"My name is Bill" he said, extending his hand to me politely. I grasped it, unsure of what I had just done.

"Where's the Clefairy?" I asked, ignoring my turn for introduction. _Did I kill it?_

"Oh he's fine. He's back with his owner now" Bill assured me. He released my hand. "See, I was testing my device last night at the same time as someone decided to withdraw the little guy from my boxes. There must've been a crossed connection or something…"

"Your boxes?" I interrupted. "YOU developed the boxing system?"

He smiled.

"I was just thinking earlier today about how fascinating it would be to meet the incredible mind that developed that program! You must be a genius!" I was marveling both at Bill's intelligence for his project and at the irony of meeting him.

"Yes, well…" he looked down, modestly. "Thank you very much. Always good to meet a fan. I'm moving on to bigger projects now: human teleportation!" he pointed to his capsules with a big grin. "They're almost working, actually." He took my place behind the computer and began checking programming codes.

"Wait, did you say you were testing this last night?" I remembered the scream I heard from the cape just before falling asleep. _That must've been Bill._

"Yes, why?" he inquired, not looking up from his furious typing.

_No reason.._

"So you're a trainer, are you?" The question seemed gruff, almost resentful. "I am grateful for your help in separating me from the Pokémon, but I don't appreciate that you trainers have turned my boxing system into a weapons storage." He picked up from the computer and began sorting through a nearby pile of papers, eventually finding a small rectangular slip. "Here" he said, handing the slip to me. "It's a ticket for the S.S. Anne that is scheduled to leave Vermillion City's port in 3 days. It's a luxury cruise I was invited to, but I know it'll only be filled with people like you." He stressed those last words with disgust "Take it as my thanks."

I stowed the ticket without thought. "But I'm not like them!" I protested. "I don't kill, ever!" Somehow I had figured out what it was that Bill despised about trainers. I don't know why, but it was important to me that Bill didn't think poorly of me. _And it's not lying if it's _mostly_ true, right?_

Bill raised an eyebrow. "You still battle, and that is still criminal." I cringed at his word choice, hoping the only connection between it and the Rocket I just met was pure coincidence. "But it is certainly an improvement over the brutality that those other trainers seem to enjoy so much."

There was an awkward pause between us as I processed what he said. _He's right. Pokémon battles were gruesome and awful. _I didn't want to do it anymore. Not if Bill disapproved.

_But I have to. To survive._

Bill placed a hand on my shoulder. "Would you like to see some of my research?" It seemed to be his way of apologizing, and I took it. I would be fascinated to see some real Pokémon research.

"My studies are currently focused on a rather enigmatic species, _Instabiles Scalum_, more commonly known as the Eevee." He pulled up an image from a file on the computer that showed an Eevee, virtually identical to Caroline's.

"What's so enigmatic about it?" I decided to take a mental note of everything Bill was about to tell me so I can pass it on to Caroline later. She would probably find it interesting, if not useful.

"You see, Eevee is a rare Pokémon of the Normal type with a curious genetic code. It is capable of sensing minute changes in its environment, and rewrite its own DNA accordingly so that it may adjust to the new stimuli. What is most interesting is exactly how dramatic these changes are. So far we've discovered that Eevee is capable of transmuting itself into three distinctly separate species." Below the image of the Eevee appeared images of three new Pokémon, presumably the ones Bill had just mentioned.

"This one dubbed Vaporeon is its Water type evolution, Jolteon its Electric type, and Flareon the Fire type." Bill continued. "Theoretically, Eevee's genetic structure is unstable enough to support a successful transformation into a creature of any type. My research revolves around discovering the stimuli that would trigger these unknown evolutions." Bill seemed incredibly excited by his research. Frankly, I was too.

"So have you discovered anything yet?"

"Not quite. At least, not concerning new evolutions. I _have_ managed to narrow down the exact stimuli that trigger these known three, however. In fact, there's currently a market for what we call 'evolution stones' intended to deliver the exact stimuli that would force an evolution. We've even found they apply to several other evolutionary families and not just Eevee's."

I nodded, glad that I was understanding what Bill was describing. Someone this brilliant with technology and research must work for somebody.

"Bill, do you have an employer? It seems to me like this amazing work should be published as soon as possible."

Bill frowned. "I work on my own. I found my employer to be…unsatisfying."

"Why? Who did you work for?"

There was a short sigh. "Silph Co., who else?"

It was beginning to bother me how frequently this company's name came up in ordinary daily events. It seemed like they had a hand in everything.

"If it's alright to ask…what did you do for them?" It was a delicate question. I could tell Bill wasn't excited to divulge the details of his employment to a company that essentially made popular the bloodsport he despised.

"I built. I built anything they asked. Their demands were ridiculous, but I built it all. They asked for a device that could identify ghosts? Done. They wanted a Pokéball that never failed in capture? Took me one weekend. I was wholly devoted to my work until I the damned Gym Challenge started. Then I quit. I wouldn't be a part of their company if they pocketed the money from organized animal slaughter." Bill's explanation grew, in volume and in speed. He was visibly irritated by the history I had asked him to repeat, but he wasn't stopping.

"And what about the boxing system? Was that for them too?"

"No no, that was for me. I constructed the program so that trainers had somewhere safe to keep their Pokémon. It was a way to save them. I couldn't just do nothing, so I built an escape. Silph Co. found out and wanted me to build a similar construct for people. They were essentially asking for a teleportation system. That was the last straw for me. That was when I left."

"But you're building it now, aren't you?"

"Only to sate my own curiosity. I won't let them get their hands on any more of my work."

It amazed me that Bill had so much courage to stick it to such an incredibly powerful company. In recent days, I've noticed that Silph Co. essentially ran a monopoly of the region. All the profit made from the medicine, food and technology that gets purchased in any Pokémart anywhere goes into their pockets. It was equally brilliant and terrifying.

"Thank you very much for your time, Bill. It was great meeting you." I had to politely excuse myself. I didn't want to keep Caroline waiting, in case she was already back at the Center.

"My pleasure. By the way, what is your name?"

"It's Mike…" I stopped for a moment, anticipating the events in the days to come. "…but don't be confused if you see me under a different name in the news soon."

Bill was confused by my response, but didn't pursue it. "Very well, Mike. Best of luck on your travels then."

"And best of luck with your research, Bill."

I left the cottage feeling very happy. I had met another friend who I could agree with.

* * *

The sun had passed its highest point in the sky by the time I left Bill's cottage. I spared a minute to look out at the ocean from the tip of the cape. _Other regions are over there. Maybe one day I can visit them too._ The salty air was rejuvenating, and my team joined me to appreciate the view. Soon, we turned to head back into the city.

My new-found peace didn't last long. While crossing the bridge back into Cerulean, the last person I wanted to see then was standing at the other end.

_Gary_.

"How ya been, loser?" He chuckled at his own insult. As had become instinct for me, my eyes darted to his belt. _Four_.

I didn't respond and simply stared at him. I hadn't forgotten about the terms we had parted on back in Pallet Town; he swore to take me out if I didn't toughen up before we met again. Lucky for me, I could stand my own now.

"How 'bout a friendly battle? You know, for _old-times sake_." He laughed again, cruelly this time.

I didn't respond this time either. Not verbally at least. My answer came in me stuffing my hands into my pockets. He got the message; I was refusing his challenge.

"Aw come on buddy. I promise not to fight dirty." Somehow, I didn't trust his promise. "Tell ya what, how about we play by some lighter rules? I won't try to kill your precious _team_." His emphasis on the last word disturbed me. It was another insult.

I couldn't tell you why I did it. I should've known he was lying. But I took my hands out of my pockets and unclicked Aporia's ball from my belt and gave a curt nod to Gary.

"Ahh, that's the spirit" he sighed. He mirrored my motion and threw a ball from his hand, cracking open to release a Pidgey.

No, it wasn't a Pidgey. It was evolved.

The bird was taller than its pre-evolved form, and with brighter plumage, most noticeably the long red feathers curving over its skull and the alternating red-and-yellow feathers of its tail. Something about it looked off, though; like it wasn't accustomed to its relatively new body, like it was uncomfortable.

_Like it had evolved too early._

Holding back my anger at Gary's gross negligence for his Pokémon, I released my own. Aporia came fluttering out of her ball, ready for battle.

"A Butterfree?" Gary asked incredulously. "Better do your homework next time, Mike. Bug types are weak to Flying types."

_Well if he thinks so…_

"Sleep Powder, now!"

Catching Gary and his Pidgeotto off-guard, Aporia swooped in and coated the bird in a cloud of green dust. Pidgeotto sneezed, then promptly fell asleep, collapsin on the ground. Gary was stunned.

"It's not the rules of the game, Gary. It's how you play" I spoke slowly to him, trying to sound patronizing, as Aporia fluttered back to me.

"Now, Confusion!"

Instantly, her eyes lit up in a bright red, and the sleeping Pidgeotto began to thrash wildly. It looked scary, especially to Gary, but I knew that Aporia was being careful not to do any real damage. She was just putting on a show for my rival.

_It's amazing how well a trainer's Pokémon will pick up its trainer's opinions._

Gary's Pidgeotto was defeated. In a flash of red, he called it back and replaced it with his Charmander. "Let's show him how _we_ play the game, Blaze!" The Charmander let out a growl to punctuate Gary's statement. I swapped Aporia for Remy, and the battle resumed.

"Quick Attack, Remy!" The purple rat dashed towards its target and struck hard with its head.

"Metal Claw!" Charmander's claws lit up like bulbs, and he attempted to slash down on Remy, who was far too quick. The attack missed and Remy was ready to make another move.

"Hyper Fang" Another dash, and Remy's jaws clamped down around Charmander's tail, who shrieked in pain. Gary's response was Ember, a move that caused the flame on the tip of Charmander's tail to flare up, singing Remy's fur and causing him to release his hold.

"Don't flinch, Remy! Hyper Fang again!" For the second time, Remy sank his teeth into Charmander's flesh. Again, while the attack looked impressive, I had trained my team well to be mindful of the lives of their opponents. The wounds were superficial, meant only to look flashy and intimidate the foe.

Charmander fainted, and Gary was growing frustrated. My team was impenetrable. In a fit of rage, Gary tossed out a yellow humanoid Pokémon with closed eyes that sat cross-legged on the bridge. There was virtually nothing impressive about it, and I was wondering if it was a trap.

"Your turn, Buffy!" My third teammate popped out of her ball in full flight. I gathered that Gary's Pokémon, an Abra, was of the Psychic type, meaning it would be weak to most of the moves my Zubat was capable of. Conversely, Buffy was Poison type, meaning that if Abra chose to use its power, it would be a quick battle. But I trusted my Pokémon. Gary didn't.

"Leech Life, Buffy!" The bat sent out a quick high-pitched pulse to gather its surroundings, than zoomed towards the Abra, fangs bared.

"Teleport!" In a blink, Abra was gone. Buffy, relying strictly on echolocation, crashed into the ground, confused about its target. She desperately started sending out more squeaks in an effort to regain her bearings. The Abra, meanwhile, reappeared in the exact same pose several feet closer to me, facing the stunned Zubat.

_So this thing can teleport. _Physical attacks would be of no use to me. Time to go for some distance.

"Buffy, try Astonish" The move was a rare one for me to call on, as it was highly unreliable. I was taking a gamble with using such an odd move for Buffy. But the gamble turned out in my favor.

Buffy loosed another cry. Not for echolocation purposes this time. Instead, her goal was to stun Abra with a concussive wall of sound. The effect was barely visible, but Abra's sitting position slouched just enough to register as a flinch.

"Now go in for the Bite!" I yelled, but Buffy was already on it. Baring her fangs again, she chomped into Abra's shoulder plate.

Gary was having no more of this. "That's enough! When did you get so good!" It wasn't a question.

"I respect my Pokémon, Gary, and that's why we work well. You should try it." Buffy flapped back to my side, satisfied with the work she had done. I was rather satisfied too.

"Oh yeah?" Gary zapped back his Abra. "Well you should try THIS!" He practically shouted as he sent a Pokéball flying towards Buffy. For a brief moment I thought he was trying to hit her with it, but it wasn't so. Halfway through its flight between us, the ball burst open, and it was now a Rattata soaring towards us, jaws wide open.

I saw it all happen in slow-motion. The Rattata coming out of the ball. The collision with Buffy in midair. The abrasive thump as they crashed into the wodden bridge together. And finally, the sound of teeth tearing through flesh and the frantic squeaks of a Zubat in its final moments of life.

"GARY, STOP IT" But he was laughing.

My blood boiled. In one swift movement, I kicked the Rattata off Buffy, who had several sharp cuts along her whole body, and released Remy again, whose ball was still in my hand since I called him back last. The two Rattata tussled on the bridge, trading fierce bites and squeaking ferociously.

Tears blinding my eyes, I picked up Buffy's body, slickened with her own blood. The gashes left by Gary's Rattata were deep and numerous. Several even managed to pierce her wings, leaving blood trickling out of the membrane.

_No._

_Not again._

I collapsed to my knees as Buffy's squeaks became quieter and sparcer.

"I'm sorry"…

_I'm so sorry…_

I looked up to glower at Gary, to attack him for what he did, but he and his Rattata were gone, and mine was limping back to me.

_He promised! He swore he wouldn't!_

_I'll get him._

The pulse in Buffy's wings was slowing as she bled out. There wasn't anything to be done…

As her squeaks became quieter, I noticed Remy's were getting louder. He was frantically pointing with his injured paw to my pocket, which had started glowing.

_Glowing._

It was the rock. The diamond-shaped stone we found in Mt. Moon. I lay Buffy down on the grass and reached into my pocket for it. What had once felt slightly warm was now uncomfortably hot, and it felt like it was pulling my hand towards Buffy.

I don't know why I let it. I had no reason to think it would help. But I did.

I released the stone, which flew like an arrow into Buffy's body. Burying itself in her skin, the glow became brighter and brighter, until, in a flash, both it and all of her injuries were gone.

_What in the…_

I lifted her body again, examining it. _Wow._ Nothing. Not a scratch. Even the delicate fabric of her wings was fixed. I lowered my head against the tiny blue chest and listened.

_A pulse_.

She was alive. The stone had revived her. There are no words to describe the relief, but that's what tears are for. My eyes were streaming in gratitude of whatever miracle had just happened, but she would be ok.

_We need to get back to the Center._

I quickly applied potion to Remy's paw, then zapped both him and Buffy back into their balls. Then I sprinted as fast as I could to the Center.

* * *

"If I ever see his pathetic face, I'll break it."

It was night. Caroline and I were back in our room, my Pokémon were with the nurse in recovery, and I was sharing with her the day's events, from the Rocket on the bridge to Bill and his Eevee research, and to my second meeting with Gary.

I had already given her the nugget the Rocket gifted to me, earlier in my story. She refused it, and that was when she shared with me what had happened during her day.

"First I went to find the Gym, just to see if I could get any information on it."

"And?" I wasn't in the mood for being polite. I had nearly lost another team member today. Luckily, she understood and didn't hold it against me.

"It's a Water gym. But it's also hardly a gym. It looks more like a circus, to be completely honest." Caroline stood up from the bed where she sat next to me and moved to a mirror to let down her hair. "I couldn't tell who the Leader was, but there were three girls in swimsuits doing pretty tricks with a bunch of Water Pokémon. Big audience too. It was pretty, but it looks like they have no idea how to battle. You'll have an easy time there."

I didn't let her reassurance get to me. I didn't want to grow too sure of myself. That was how I lost Icarus back on Route 3, and that was how I nearly lost Buffy tonight. _I will never underestimate my opponents again._

"After that, I just went looking around the city. I trained Houdini for a little in a park that I found, just like you showed me." I was noticing that Caroline had a favoritism for which of her Pokémon to train. Houdini was the only one she had legitimately captured, and so he was the only one who obeyed her as a Pokémon should obey its trainer. She was reluctant to attempt training the others.

"But then I heard a shout. Someone was being robbed a block away. Houdini and I both went over there, and we saw a Rocket escaping from a house he just broke into." Caroline was now cleaning out her pack as she told the story. "He clearly stole something, so I told Houdini to steal it back."

"And did he?"

"Yeah, it was so cool! He just flew over there, like a bullet, and snatched it back!" She demonstrated with her hands exactly how Houdini flew with a gleeful expression.

"And the Rocket didn't battle you for it?"

"Not at all. He just kept running. Who robs a person's house in the middle of the day anyways?" She returned her attention to the pack.

"Because people are there at night. Maybe the people who live there are only gone during the day. What was he stealing anyway?"

"A TM. It was number 28." She stopped my question before I asked it. "Dig. I looked it up online". I lay back on the bed and wondered. _Was that the same Rocket I saw? Was that why he was here in Cerulean, to steal a digging TM? Why?_

"Anyway, Mike, we have a bit of a problem."

"Oh?" I raised my head from the pillow to show her I was listening.

"Yeah…they know you're here."

"Who?"

"The newspaper, the TV station, the Cerulean Gym, everyone" she counted the first three on her fingers, then gestured with both hands at the last word. "They're all expecting you tomorrow for a sensational battle."

"How do they know I'm here?" This wasn't exactly a 'problem', but it was certainly something to be aware of.

"I'm not sure, but if I had to guess, I'd say they got tipped off by the other Leader, the one from Pewter City."

_That's certainly possible._

"I've been thinking" she continued "all of the medias are referring to you as Red. And I'm traveling with you, and I'm kind of a runaway…so I don't want them to know who I really am." Her sentences dragged like she was slowly approaching the point, but didn't want to say it outright. "So…I think I…need a name too."

I thought for a moment. _She has a point._ "That makes sense. Do you already have one picked out?"

"Yeah, actually" she admitted, seemingly embarassed. "I want to be…" she hesitated. "I want to be Leaf."

I had to stifle the laugh forming in my throat. "Why Leaf?"

"It's a long story, I'll tell you about it later." She lay down on the other side of the bed, staying as close to the edge as possible. She felt just as awkward sharing a bed as I did.

I lay down my head again, facing away from her on the other side of the bed. _Everything is a long story with you. _

"Good night, Mike" I heard from behind me.

"Night, _Leaf_" I responded, emphasizing the nickname.

She let it slide. "Get some sleep, alright? You have a big battle tomorrow."

"You too" I said, but I knew I wouldn't sleep well. Too much had happened today, and too much was waiting to happen tomorrow.

_Another gym battle, _I thought. And now that the press and the stations were here, I had to make a strong impression, like I did with Brock. Only this time, everyone would be watching.

I had to appeal to the entire nation.

In one gym match.

Where I would refuse to kill my opponent.

_No pressure.  
_

* * *

**Wow, this chapter was a doozy. Longest one so far.**

**I know that the battle with Gary technically happens before Nugget Bridge and Bill, but it didn't fit the dramatic order of things that I thought would work better in the story...so I changed it.  
**

**And was that...Gary nicknaming his Pokemon? Could be, could be.  
**

**This is the first time so far that I've had to fall back on my own Nuzlocke rule and use a Revive. Like I said in my first note, only Revives that are found can be used, so they can't be bought.  
**

**By the way, the scientific name I gave to Eevee, _Instabiles Scalum_, is one I made it up myself. In case anyone was wondering, it's Latin for "unstable ladder", ladder of course meaning DNA.  
**

**Actually, writing the scene with Bill made me realize that DNA and genetics are a huge theme for the R/B/Y/FR/LG games. Eevee, Ditto, Mewtwo and Mew are hugely relevant to the idea of DNA variance and engineering, and so are the fossil Pokemon that get revived on Cinabbar Island. I'll bring that theme into my story also; it's an important one.  
**

**Next chapter will be up soon. Keep reading!  
**

**Feedback greatly appreciated!  
**


	10. Splashdown

Chapter 10: Splashdown

Caroline wasn't kidding; the Cerulean gym really _was_ a circus.

Just like the gym in Pewter City, the Cerulean gym had an arena and several training rooms. Except the arena was now a ring for a Water-type-Pokémon circus and the training rooms were now dressing rooms. Clearly, the Cerulean gym had figured how to stay afloat when the challengers became scarce, while Brock and his family stuck by their gym's integrity. It also seems that, because of the Cerulean gym's change of act, they continued to receive much more funding from Silph Co. than Brock's, but I had the sneaking suspicion that it wasn't the circus act that was drawing the money. Or the crowd.

It was the girls.

The Cerulean gym-slash-circus was coordinated and maintained by a trio of young attractive girls, who called themselves the Cerulean Waterflowers, as well as the Sensational Sisters. Individually, they were called Lily, Violet and Daisy. They were the ring masters of the show and also the former Gym Leaders. Apparently, someone else had taken their place, and they refused to reveal her to me because, as per tradition, the challenger was not allowed to meet the Leader he would be battling until he stepped into the arena for the first time. Naturally, this meant I hadn't seen the arena yet either. I was only vaguely aware of what it was like from Caroline's descriptions.

Also, because this would be my first nationally televised gym match, the Sensational Sisters sat me in one of their dressing rooms, trying to give me a make-over to make me more photogenic for the dozens of cameras from various TV stations that would be broadcasting the event. I refused every suggestion they made.

_Kanto will see me as I am._

As far as the match itself, I wasn't very worried. My opponent wasn't going to be a serious trainer. _I'll probably be fighting one of their clowns_ I joked to myself. I had one Pokémon with me, just like last time. Snare hadn't seen much action since evolving. He was so far ahead of the rest of the team as it was, but this would be the perfect way to stretch his vines from the short hiatus. I could tell he was itching to wail on some Water types.

The Waterflowers were in the dressing room with me, donned in skimpy bathing suits and wearing bright, exciting colors in their hair, as if this match was going to be just another one of their acts. They were explaining to me how gym matches _traditionally _worked.

"What you had in Pewter City was hardly even a match. It won't be so easy here, honey." Daisy, wearing a red bikini to match her flaming orange hair, was trying to straighten my own under my cap as she spoke.

"Lucky for you, we didn't see your first match, so we don't have any clue what you're going to do out there, and neither does the Leader." This time it was Lily who spoke, sporting an orange bathing suit in the same style as Daisy's, but with neon pink hair. This one was trying to rub the dirt out of my shoes.

"And remember, kid, the stadium is packed. Just smile, keep your cool and put on a good show. That's all anybody wants to see here anyway." Violet, the oldest sister, with a bikini to match her namesake and hair as blue as the pool in the arena, completed the pep talk. She seemed to be trying to…_trim my eyebrows? What, were they using _telescopes_ to broadcast this?_

"Alright, that's enough!" I pushed all three away in one movement. "I don't need a make-over and I certainly don't need your 'words of advice'." I made my air quotes as sarcastic as possible so that even their thick skulls couldn't miss my meaning. "I'm here for a reason, and it is NOT to put on a show!"

The girls stared at me, as if waiting for me to say more, but I was done. The message was clear. I was here to claim victory over a second gym, regardless of the crowd and the cameras.

"Alright. We'll start the match in 10 minutes." Violet said, tamed by my outburst.

"Good luck" Daisy added sheepishly. They turned to leave the room when Lily (clearly the ditsiest of the three) called back "And don't forget to smile!"

The door shut, and I was alone.

My hands came up to cover my face, and I threw my head back with a loud groan. I wasn't scared of losing; Snare and I definitely had a tremendous advantage. But I was afraid of everybody watching me.

_Everybody will be watching me_.

Brock warned me about this moment back when I met him. It was very delicate and could easily grant me the victory I sought…or destroy me. Because after the match would come the press, and I would have to tell them everything exactly as it was going to be heard by every ear in Kanto.

_What am I going to say? I didn't even practice answering any questions!_

I thought about Caroline up in the audience in the arena, wondering what she would do. She had kept her head during this whole ordeal of preparation. She even demanded that I _only_ call her Leaf, so that she would get used to the new name and not ruin her charade when the cameras turned on her. The pressure hadn't cracked her in the slightest.

_Then again, she's not the one battling._

I decided to let Snare out, just so I wasn't so alone in the tense minutes preceding my match. I rehearsed the strategy with him again.

"Make sure you do everything I say, exactly as I say. Don't get cocky. Keep your vines close to your body; we don't know what kind of damage those Water types are capable of."

Snare was nodding enthusiastically. He had heard it all a hundred times before, but he understood my anxiety and allowed me to recite it one more time.

"And don't kill. Whatever you do, do not kill. If there's anything I want them to remember about me, it's that."

Snare gave one final nod, then held up his vine. I knew what this gesture meant; we'd done it several times today already.

I high-fived his vine, then put my hand down on his scaly shoulder. "You're going to be great, buddy."

A loud buzz sounded in the room. "Will the challenger please enter the arena?" It wasn't an automated message; apparently a commentator had been hired for the match, and his request was in real-time. Refusing it would be a poor first impression.

I looked back down at Snare.

"Let's show Kanto who we are."

This time, we nodded together.

* * *

"And here he comes, folks, our challenger, all the way from Pallet Town, here to claim a second badge for himself. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…Red!"

It was a hard decision to give my pseudonym to the commentator, but if it was going to be the name that the nation knew me by, I had to.

The lights in the stadium were blinding, to say the least. My eyes actually hurt for several seconds after I had adjusted to them. Snare was back in his ball, the ball was hooked onto my belt, and I took small, measured steps into the stadium.

The first things I noticed were the platforms. Dozens of small circular platforms, barely big enough for one Pokémon to stand on dotted the arena. There was no floor between them, but the rods the platforms were perched on sprouted from a pool several feet below us. The pool itself was a bright vibrant blue, sprinkled with the occasional green of lily pads. The platform I was standing on now was long and rectangular, leading into the middle of the stadium, cutting through the smaller circular ones on either side of me. A second rectangular platform extended from the opposite side of the arena, but the two didn't meet in the middle.

_That's where he'll come out of _I deduced. A dull roar filled the stadium, and I looked up to identify its source. The entire perimeter of the arena was filled with bleachers and seats, and not a single seat was empty. _There must be hundreds of them._

_And they're all applauding._

A break in the sea of people was actually the commentator's booth, whom I could barely see, though I could tell he was wearing a black suit. And as expected, cameras. Cameras everywhere. I counted 16 lining the edge of the seating area, all pointed at me.

_Well, this is it._

"And now I give you, Red's opponent, the young, the beautiful, the steadfast nymph of Cerulean City, our very own newly-appointed Gym Leader, Misty Waterflower!"

At the commentator's words, four tall columns of water burst out of the pit beneath the opposing platform, reaching nearly to the ceiling. Out of the tops of the columns appeared four identical Pokémon, resembling small blue seahorses, which began to bugle a fanfare while simultaneously releasing several colored bubbles from their snouts. I wasn't allowed to bring my Pokédex into the arena ("It isn't _traditional_") so I had no idea what they were. The crowd applauded politely, but I could tell from the fact that they were holding back that something even more spectacular was about to happen.

No sooner that I had the thought that a fifth column jetted up, this time in the space where the two rectangular platforms almost met. I saw a long, thin shape travel up the column and reveal itself at the apex. It was a gargantuan, scaly blue serpent.

_Holy…_

The serpent sprouted out of the apex of the column and curled itself into a spiral shape, balancing on the top of the spout with the tip of its tail. The beasts mouth was as large as its head, with fangs the size of a small person. It bellowed at the crowd, who was now in uproar at the creature's flashy entrance. Riding the serpent, just behind the fin-shaped crest on its head, was a girl. She looked exactly like her sisters, aside from the light blue bathing suit and the shock of orange hair.

_She certainly knows how to make an appearance._

The girl somersaulted backwards off the Pokémon's back, and executed a perfect landing on her platform.

"And she sticks the landing!" The crowd went wild. I could swear I heard shouts of "WE LOVE YOU MISTY" from several male voices. Meanwhile, the columns of water and the Pokémon atop them had receded back into the pool, leaving the arena much the same as when I had entered it, albeit much louder. Misty herself was reveling in the attention she generated, waving and blowing kisses to the audience. Finally, she turned to me and gave a wink.

"My, you're a cute one. I know what _I'll_ be doing once this match is over!"

The audience and commentator alike laughed at her joke. I noticed the cameras swiveled around to tape my reaction, which happened to be '_I hope Caroline didn't hear that…'_

"Why don't you introduce yourself, handsome?" Misty was really getting a kick out of trying to charm me. I do have to say, she was a _very_ attractive, young…

_No, no, no. Focus. _

"I'm Red" I called back to her "and I'm here to beat you." It didn't sound nearly as dramatic out loud as it sounded in my head…

"Then let's get started!"

"I agree" the commentator was back on the mic. "Now since it's been so long since any of us have seen a real gym battle, I'm going to go over the rules."

The crowd was quieting down. _I guess it really has been a while._

"Firstly, this will be a two-on-two battle. Both Misty and Red will be permitted to use two Pokémon, one at a time, and may switch as they please as the match continues. If either Misty or Red…"

"Actually" I interrupted, "I'll be using only one Pokémon today."

For a moment, the stadium went completely silent. Then light murmuring rose from the stands.

_Shit, I didn't mean to interrupt him! Why did I say that!_

"Alrighty then!" The commentator didn't miss a beat. "If either trainer runs out of Pokémon who are able to battle, they will be declared the loser. Additionally, this will be a timed match." At these words, a metal panel above the commentator's box slid away to reveal a large LED display that currently read 30:00. "If the match lasts for more than 30 minutes, that is, past when the clock reaches 0, the match will be ended, and the winner will be the one with the most Pokémon still able to battle. In the event of a tie, the match will be called a draw, and a second match will be scheduled."

The crowd's murmuring had become rather loud, and the commentator was being forced to overcome their volume.

"Let the battle begin!"

Misty immediately released a Pokéball from her hand. "Go, Staryu!"

_Was that a Pokémon?_

The circular platform to Misty's left was filled by a short five-pointed yellow star with a large red gem at its center. The creature didn't look at all natural. It looked like a synthetic organism.

_Okay, wasn't expecting that…but it's still a Water type, and that means we still have the advantage!_

"Let's do this, Snare!" I was instantly joined on my platform by my companion, four vines already extended from his bulb, and an intimidating sneer on his snout. _He certainly knows how to play his part._

"And it looks like our challenger will be attempting to sweep this gym match with his one Pokémon, Ivysaur!"

The crowd seemed excited but there wasn't any real applause yet. _That's fine, I haven't earned it yet._

"Staryu, Tackle!" The star-shaped creature leapt into the air far too dramatically and came soaring down from above in an attempt to land an attack. The way the Tackle was executed told me that this was just another show for Misty; she wasn't taking this battle seriously at all.

_Time to exploit her mistake_.

"Block!" Snare and I had perfected a monosyllabic command system; it was quicker and more efficient that way. In response, Snare threw up his vines like a net in front of him, quickly tangling Staryu's appendages in them. The trap worked perfectly; the four vines now held four of Staryu's arms in a lock, with only the top one being free. The attack had been stopped in its tracks.

"Seems like our challenger knows the best offense is a good defense!"

It was time to tune out the commentator. He was getting on my nerves a little.

Misty seemed perturbed by how easily I had stopped her assault, but she didn't keep it visible on her face for long. Regaining her peppy voice, she called "Do a Water Pulse, Staryu!" The Pokémon lowered its top arm and pointed it directly at Snare.

"Throw!" The next instant, Snare had tossed Staryu to the side like a rag. The Pokémon spun through the air like a boomerang. I could tell it was trying to angle itself a particular way in order to glide back onto a platform, but the throw was too hard. Staryu collided with a metallic clang with the wall of the arena, forming a crack in the center of its body.

_I guess it isn't a gem…must be glass or something…_

A splash informed me that the Staryu had landed in the water beneath us. _One down, one to go._

"What a knockout! Red clearly knows what he's doing! I guess he's going to finish that one off later. Misty is down one Pokémon. Misty, would you please bring forth your second Pokémon of the match?"

Misty wasn't handling being upstaged too well. Her sisters must've convinced her that all she needed were her circus tricks to beat me. Visibly shaken now, she released a second Pokéball, this one also revealing a star-shaped Pokémon. It appeared to be an evolution of the previous, having the same basic shape, but with twice as many points. It was only slightly bigger, but with a deep shade of purple.

"Misty continues the battle with her Starmie! Let's proceed!"

"Rapid Spin!" Misty wasn't wasting time with theatrics anymore. Starmie blasted off from its platform, oriented horizontally and spinning at a ridiculous speed, its whole body a blur.

"Dodge!" Snare leapt, narrowly avoiding the spin. Starmie continued to spin, angling its body just enough to generate lift and circle around the arena back to where it had started.

"Seed!" As soon as his paws touched down, Snare fired three shots from his back, aiming for the moving target. Starmie was moving too fast; the seeds missed and embedded into the wall behind Misty.

"Rapid Spin, one more time!" Starmie still hadn't touched the ground. Angling itself downwards this time, it gathered speed going for a direct collision with Snare.

"Catch!" Again, the vines came up, and caught Starmie's multiple arms. There was some shredding on the vines due to the spinning, but he was quickly brought to a stop, face-to-face (if you say Starmie's had faces) with Snare. "Now, seed 'em!" At point blank, Snare couldn't miss. The seeds broke the glass in the center of Starmie's body, sprouting on contact and constricting around the Pokémon. The struggle quickly ceased, and, sensing victory was his, Snare raised Starmie, still tangled in the vines, over his head.

"Time!" yelled the commentator. I looked up at the clock over his stand. It read 27:49.

The numbers took a whlie to sink in. _2 minutes and 11 seconds. To beat a Gym Leader!_

From the silence in the stadium, it looked like everybody else was doing the math as well, even the cameras. The whole gym match took less time than the commercial break that the TV stations were about to cut to.

There was no applause, no whispering. Even the commentator had finally shut up. Every eye in the room was on me and on my Pokémon, holding up its defeated opponent.

_These people weren't here to watch a gym match. They were here to watch their precious ringleader to beat a cocky kid into submission. None of them were on my side._

A sharp sting came to my eyes as I realized that everybody in the room was betting against me. But I held it back. My victory had commanded total attention over the whole arena. _No, the whole region._

This was my moment.

I relaxed my legs, which were tensed up during the whole fight. I let my gaze survey the room, making eye contact with several of the astouded faces in the stands. They were waiting.

"Citizens of Cerulean City, and of the Kanto region" I don't know why I said it, but I couldn't stop myself. For some reason, it felt like they were waiting for me to speak to them, to address them. "I came here from Pallet Town to defeat the Cerulean Gym in a match, to claim its badge, and to continue on my journey. I've noticed something in the few weeks that I've been traveling; nobody seems to remember how to battle."

The way my voice echoed through the palpable air was unnerving. It was causing my legs to weaken and my stomach to churn. I thought about everybody who was watching me, and tried to think through my next sentence. One stumble, and I'd ruin the impression I'd made.

Deep breath.

"Trainers have forgotten that Pokémon are not meant to be used for bloodsport, but I know why they think so. They've been convinced by the corporation that practically runs this continent that they need to shed blood to be recognized, and even just to survive. This is wrong." I let the word echo around the room before I continued. "On the other hand, it seems that your gym leaders have taken the other extreme. You have become convinced by them and by this gym that blowing bubbles and spouting water, putting on a pretty performance, constitutes training. There is more to a battle than the show it gives. This is just as wrong as the slaughter I've witnessed on travels between cities." Another pause.

"I'm here to conquer a gym, but I am also here to remind you, all of you, what our region is built upon. The Gym Challenge that was started long ago and was forgotten until today was meant to be a test of fortitude. A test of overcoming obstacles through growth, and knowing the glory of battle while adhering to its honor. Many of my Pokémon have been thrashed within inches of their lives for the sake of what you call entertainment and recreation. I would sooner take their place than be the one to do it to someone else. So I refuse to kill, anyone, ever."

I could tell Snare was understanding what I was saying. For emphasis on my last statement, he dropped the Starmie in his vines and wilted the tendrils that were suffocating it. Murmurs came from around the room. Some of them seemed to be of approval.

"And I am not alone! My first gym battle in Pewter City against Brock earned me his respect as a trainer from the humanity I managed to show. I've met several trainers just like me who brightened with relief at the knowledge that I wasn't as heartless as their other opponents. I've even heard the impartial opinion of a brilliant scientist and inventor who told me that it's the Pokémon we should pity, not the trainers who lose them."

"After today, my journey will continue. I will travel to the other cities of Kanto, I will challenge their leaders, and I will defeat them all. Then I will release the Elite Four from their bound positions at the Indigo Plateau through the only way I know they will allow: I will clash with the masters in battle and defeat them, with honor and respect for fellow trainer and Pokémon, and I extend this same courtesy to anyone I will ever battle, though I've learned better than to expect the same from anyone else."

The air was charged with anticipation as I drew one more breath to finish my speech.

And then…I will become Champion."

The silence had returned. I shifted my gaze to Misty who, to my surprise, was smiling. Perhaps because I spared her Pokémon, or perhaps because she agreed with what I was saying. That was all the encouragement I needed.

"My goal is to force you all to remember why Pokémon are here and why we shold treat them as much as equals as we can. Remember the thrill of battle and the responsibilities that come with it. Ignore anybody who tells you that claiming lives is the only way to prove strength. Ignore the criminals and thieves who violate the integrity of Pokémon for personal gain. And ignore anybody who tells you that you cannot succeed with dignity. The Gym Challenge is back!" I shouted to the crowd. "And this time, I, Red, am challenging you!"

That did it. The applause was _explosive_. The commentator was impossible to hear over the roars of the crowd, who had begun chanting "Red" in a rapid, rousing chorus. I thought about the people who had just heard my monologue.

Caroline, somewhere in the stands, probably cheering my name louder than anyone.

Professor Oak, watching in his lab, remembering the first day when I knew absolutely nothing about Pokémon.

Gary, watching in a Pokémon Center lobby, livid at my success.

Brock, grateful for the business I was sure to bring to his gym.

Bill, nodding in agreement with the message he had unwittingly helped me to develop.

There were several people I was hoping had heard what I said. The boss of Team Rocket, the Silph Co. CEO, the mysterious Viridian Gym Leader who was waiting for a challenge when he left his post. I hoped they could see me, and realized I was someone to keep in mind.

* * *

Back in the dressing rooms, the four sisters tittered nonstop about my speech. They said that because of my address, they would be getting nothing but gym challenges for a long time, so they were scrapping their circus rings and bringing back the old arena. Misty awarded me with the Cascadebadge, a bright blue pin shaped like a drop of water. The color complimented the Boulderbadge in my jacket perfectly, and I caught myself wondering about the badge that would be joining them soon after. Just as a formality, she pressed the marking of the Cascadebadge onto my card, but she assured me that I wouldn't need it. Being a national sensation meant people would know who I was, and valid I.D. wasn't nearly as important to have anymore.

"You're going to want to put on a face for yourself now." It was Misty talking. "Reporters are going to want to interview you, find out your origins, peg your personality, make you likable to everyone who has seen you. They'll be following you too, televising your matches."

"I don't want them to" I replied curtly. "I don't want any interviews, and I don't want anything broadcast. My only advantage over the other Gym Leaders now is that they don't know the Pokémon I'll be using against them

Misty understood. "Well, if you won't give an interview, they're going to start interviewing everyone else. Your parents, your neighbors, anybody you might be traveling with. Even us" she said, indicating to herself and the other three sisters. "And we're public figures. Denying them wouldn't be good for us."

"So…do you know where you're going next?" It was Lily who spoke up.

"I want to get to Saffron City, challenge the Leader there, and continue south to Vermillion." I recalled the map I had. _It's just a straight shot down through two more gyms._

"You can't do that" Misty interrupted my answer. "Saffron is blockaded from all four sides. There's no way in, let alone through."

_What? Blockaded!_

"What do you mean, _blockaded_? Why?"

"Silph Co.'s main office is based in Saffron City. When the Gym Challenge started losing popularity after the Elite Four's induction, they began to lose tremendous amounts of money, having to keep paying the gyms for renovation, but also not making any from the challengers. The company tried to make up its losses by employing more people for longer hours, and by developing ludicrous inventions that would sell for more money than their usual products." I recalled Bill mentioning the Pokéball he developed, capable of capturing anything without fail. _Is that why Silph Co. wanted him to make it? To cut their losses and make money? _It didn't seem right…they could've just raised prices on their merchandise.

"Since all Silph employees live within Saffron city limits, the new policies didn't go over well, and people tried to leave. So Silph blockaded it. Nobody can get in and nobody can get out, unless they're carrying Silph products to Pokémarts across Kanto."

This didn't make any sense. Something wasn't adding up.

"So is there a way around it? Maybe I can't get to the Saffron Gym, but I'd like to get to Vermillion soon."

"Why? What's in Vermillion?" Lily asked.

"I have a boat to catch in two days." I flashed the S.S. Anne ticket that was in my pocket. I figured since Bill gave it to me suspecting it would be full of trainers, I can go there to train up my team.

"I'm sorry, Red. Cutting through Saffron is the only way to get to Vermillion in two days, and that's not even possible right now." Misty seemed genuinely sorry that my luck had turned out poorly.

_Fine. I don't need that stupid boat anyway._

We wrapped up our discussion. Even though she didn't think it would be possible to reach Vermillion in time to catch the S.S. Anne, Misty still gave me a short debriefing on the Leader there; a grizzled veteran who went by Liuetenant Surge. His gym was dedicated to Electric types, a class of species that I hadn't encountered a single time yet. It likely meant they were powerful, and rare. On top of that, I had nobody on my team who could do well in combat with an Electric type master. Snare's Grass typing would give him a natural resistance, but he was growing weary of being my go-to Pokémon for gyms. I needed a new team member.

"Red, I want you to have this." Misty pulled out a blue TM from a drawer in the dressing room and handed it to me. "It's Water Pulse. I feel like it may come in handy for you."

"Why are you giving me your TM? I thought they were consolation prizes for people who failed the challenge."

"They were, but that was a long time ago. You're a new breed of challenger." It was Violet's turn to contribute to the conversation.

"Thanks everyone." I slipped the TM into my case, which was quickly filling up.

"Good luck, Red. We'll be rooting for you."

_I'm glad somebody is._

* * *

"THAT. WAS SO. AWESOME!"

Caroline and I were leaving the gym now, headed back to the Pokémon Center. Since my match was so short, it was only just after midday, and we needed to figure out if there's anyway for us to get to Vermillion in two days time. She couldn't focus on that; she was still chatting about my speech.

"You called out EVERYBODY on their crap, and it was SO COOL!"

I told her that I didn't plan it. None of it was rehearsed, it all just…came out. But she didn't care. She still said it was the best thing she'd ever seen.

"And you totally wailed on that gym leader! By the way, was she hitting on you?" I looked away embarassed. I was hoping she wouldn't bring it up. The truth of the matter was that I found Caroline (she insisted on being called Leaf whenever I spoke to her, just in case we were being followed or eavesdropped upon) several times more attractive than Misty. I didn't want to use that to my defense; telling her would make the rest of our companionship awkward. I simply shrugged in response to her question. She seemed to accept it.

"So what's the plan, champ?"

"We need to find a way to make it to Vermillion. Preferably in two days, but if it takes longer, we'll make do. Either way, I'm going to take out the Gym Leader there next." I looked down at my belt, now properly restocked with the rest of my team. Four Pokéballs lined the side of my… _wait a minute…four?_

"So what should we…" Caroline was about to ask, but I interrupted.

"SHIT. I FORGOT!" And I broke into the sprint toward the south of the city. _Magikarp. _

"Hey, wait up!" Carol-I mean, Leaf, came running after me. "Where are we going?" she called, already out of breath by the sudden race.

"I forgot about Magikarp! We almost left without him!"

Within minutes, I reached Henry's daycare at the edge of Cerulean and knocked on the door. He opened, and a gleeful smile spread across his face.

"Ah! The challenger!" he laughed to himself. "Quite the show you put on for us, eh? Hoo, you made a lot of enemies tonight, boyo." He was certainly more enthusiastic than the mild gentleman I left my Magikarp with.

"I'm sorry, sir. Do you disapprove of what I said?" For a moment, I was afraid that Henry was one of the enemies he mentioned.

"Not at all! I think it was a glorious call to arms! I meant the other leaders, and of course Silph Co. and the Rockets. No no, my boy, you did a fine job. I'm proud to have assisted you in raising your Pokémon." He ushered us into the house. Caroline was looking around curiously, this being the first time she'd been inside the Daycare Man's home.

"He's right over here." Henry indicated to a large aquarium at the back wall of the building. Sure enough, there was Magikarp. I could see that he was certainly stronger and trained since I saw him, but he retained his pathetic appaearance and blank expression. Henry removed him from the tank and dropped him on the floor. Magikarp immediately began flailing and flopping, just like before.

"So…what can he do now?" I asked, apprehensive about adding the Magikarp back onto my.

"Watch this, son. Magikarp? Tackle!" Henry yelled, pointing to the wall of his house. The fish flapped around awkwardly before lightly colliding into the wall with a dull thump.

_That's it? Tackle?_

Caroline was holding back a giggle. "Told you it was useless."

Henry silently raised a finger in protest, then pointed to Magikarp. As I turned to look at the spot, Magikarp was swallowed by an orb of light. The bright sphere first grew in size, and then elongated like a snake, filling up the whole room. When the light disappeared, my jaw dropped. Occuppying nearly the entire space of the home was an enormous blue sea serpent, identical to the one Misty used for her entrance in the gym.

"I give you, Gyarados!" Henry announced proudly, and the Gyarados loosed a mighty roar from its gaping toothy maw.

Caroline met my stunned gaze as we looked at each other. I scoffed.

"You were saying?"

* * *

**Oh yeah, shit just got real.  
**

**I'll do my best to get the next chapter up in the next couple of days. Thanks for your feedback, everyone!  
**


	11. Underground Secrets

Chapter 11: Underground Secrets

As a sort of consolation to her mistake about Magikarp's potential, Caroline offered to pay Henry for his services instead of me. I made a mental note to figure out how exactly she has so much money to freely spend as soon as we hit the road again. While she was counting out the fee, I ran my hand along the smooth glistening scales of Gyarados' body.

_I haven't even given you a name yet._

A quick Pokédex scan informed me, to my surprise, that Gyarados was a female. Her lustrous scales made coming up with a name much easier.

"You'll be Saphira" I told the Gyarados, whose muscles rippled in approval. We couldn't get Saphira out of the house by traditional means, so while the mechanics confused me, I recalled the serpent back into her ball, and placed it alongside the others at my waist.

_Welcome to the team._

"So where will your travels take you next, Red?" Henry asked me, after he had been paid.

After thanking him profusely for his help, I shared my plan with the man. "I want to get to Vermillion City in the next two days, if that's at all possible. I originally wanted to cut through Saffron to get there, but the blockade…" I let my voice trail off as I saw a pained expression crossed the Daycare Man's face.

"Ah yes…the blockade" he sighed. "If you only knew how much trouble that company has made for us. Silph sucks the money out of our pockets, pulls our children away from home. My son works for them..." He lowered his head, letting me realize for myself why it was that the Saffron blockade pained Henry as much as it did. "I haven't seen him in years."

Caroline rested a comforting hand on his shoulder. I could tell she sympathized, and remembered that she claimed to be a runaway from Saffron. _How did she manage to get out of the city?_ She had some explaining to do.

"I'm sorry to hear that." It sounded insincere, but it was the most I could say.

Henry took in a sharp breath, raised his head, and spoke louder than before. "I'm going to help you, son, but you have to swear you won't breathe a word of what I'm about to show you to another living soul, or it'll be the end of me." The sudden change in his tone was rather jarring, and I nodded my promise more out of surprise than out of an oath.

"You swear?"

"Yes yes, I swear!" The sudden strength in his voice was a little frightening.

He grunted in response, then motioned with his hand for us to follow him to another room of his home. Caroline and I shared our confused looks, then followed without a word.

"Saffron is surrounded on all four sides by other cities. Cerulean to the north, Vermillion to the south, Celadon to the west, and Lavender Town to the east" Henry narrated as we followed him through a wooden doorway into what looked like a workshop. The last name, Lavender Town, was familiar to me.

_That's where the dead Pokémon go. That's where Icarus is buried now._

"After the blockade" he continued "those four cities had trouble communicating and commuting with each other, since their most direct route had been cut off, and the megacorp certainly wasn't making it easier on us. In response to Silph Co.'s arrogance and tyranny, several of my friends and I decided to undergo a project; we built a tunnel that travels under Saffron in all four directions, keeping the cities connected without Silph's knowledge. And we've managed to keep it secret this long." As he spoke, he kneeled on the dusty floor of the workshop and swiped his hands over the floor, revealing several stone tiles. He rapped his knuckles on several of them, finally deciding on one and shifting it aside with a great effort. Henry raised himself from the ground, and slapped his hands together to rid them of the dust.

"There was me from Cerulean, Irwin from Vermillion, Fuji from Violet and Gregory from Celadon. We started at our homes and tunneled using our Pokémon until we reached each other right under Saffron. The four of us kept our positions at the edge of the city, taking up various posts to dull suspicions. I became the Daycare Man" he emphasized with a slight bow, "Irwin started a Pokémon Fan Club and became its President, Fuji became a sort of spiritual advisor to the mourners who came to Pokémon Tower, and Gregory opened a game corner in Celadon. That's the secret of the underground path. And that's how you'll get to Vermillion."

Henry gave a satisfied smile. I understood why Henry had earlier celebrated me insulting Silph Co. so directly on TV; he had done the same, only he was much more subtle. He helped build a tunnel right under their noses, right under their capital.

"Well go on, get in!" He was getting excited. Maybe it was the nostalgia and thrill of giving Silph Co. the finger by smuggling their public enemy to his destination.

"Thank you so much, Henry. We really appreciate everything you've done for us." I began to clamber down into the stony pit the Daycare Man revealed under his floor. "Where exactly will this tunnel come out?"

"Irwin's house, of course! He's the president of the Pokémon Fan Club now, but the tunnel exit should still be there. Oh boy, will he be surprised to see you two!"

"Thanks again, Henry!" The old man had stooped again to shift the stone tile back into its original position. Caroline and I were now at the bottom of the drop, staring down the length of a pitch-black low-ceilinged tunnel.

"Good luck, Red! I'll be keeping an eye on you, my boy." Henry's words echoed down into the tunnel, followed by the shuddering slam of the stone falling back into place, leaving me and Caroline in absolute darkness.

"Well" I heard her say "No reason to sit in the dark." There was a click, and bolt of light burst out of what I assumed to be one of her Pokéballs. Once the light receded, I heard the soft patter of paws on the tunnel floor. "Feu, can we have a light please?"

The following instant, Caroline's Vulpix summoned a small orb of blue fire from its mouth, which glowed just enough for us to see each other's faces, shadows dancing under our eyes. Feu released the orb, which hung ominously in the air before us.

"It's a Will 'o' Wisp" I heard her explain. "It's a fire that used to be associated with ghosts because of the way it looks. Pretty creepy, huh."

_Yeah, it is._ I was completely mesmerized by the blue ball of fire hanging in the air in front of us. It didn't even feel hot.

"Let's get going" I finally managed to tear my eyes from the odd flame, and we walked side-by-side through the tunnel, Feu following Caroline's feet and steadily maintaining the glowing wisp.

We didn't walk far before I decided it was time to release the pressing questions I'd accumulated about Caroline in my brain. I decided to start the interrogation casually, and ask the more important questions later.

"So…Leaf, huh?" My question sounded about as awkwardly as it possibly could have, and her small smile reflected that. I didn't need to elaborate; she knew what I was asking.

"I told you, it's a long story."

"We're not in any hurry" I answered. We were walking at a fairly brisk pace as it was, and if the tunnel really was straight like Henry claimed, we would probably make it to Vermillion the next morning, giving me a whole day of training aboard the S.S. Anne.

Leaf (it's hard to get used to that) gave a short sigh, and then started her story.

"My parents have always been really busy people. They didn't have a lot of time for me when I was growing up. My grandpa was the person who spent the most time with me, especially when I was a baby. He played with me, taught me how to read, took me for walks around the city. He was just the best."

"When I was a baby, my parents had this green blanket they would always wrap me in, and that was the blanket my grandpa first saw me in when I was born. He called me his little leafy. Hardly ever called me 'Caroline', just 'Leafy'. A name like that really grows on you when you hear it more often than your own. Like I said, parents weren't around much…" She was trying to hold a conversational tone, but I could hear her voice on the verge of cracking. When she didn't continue her story, I took it as my cue to start talking.

"Where is he now, your grandpa?" Our pace had considerably slowed since she started her story, and our brisker pace was reduced to a leisurely stroll. Feu was getting bored of the conversation, and made the small flaming orb dance around us in circles to entertain herself. Caroline was having trouble answering the question without letting her voice crack, but she still made the effort.

"He…he got sick, and…" I stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. A single tear ran down her cheek and dropped into the ground below us. I didn't feel right pressing her for questions about her running away so soon after the story about her grandpa, so I allowed silence to come between us as we walked.

"Mike" she spoke, finding her voice again, "I don't know anything about you. Can you tell me something about your life before you started…_this?_" she indicated absentmindedly to the tunnel aroud us.

_Well, the truth was going to come out sooner or later._

"To be honest, I…don't remember." She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "I really don't. The earliest thing I can remember…well, it'll sound crazy."

"Try me." I could sense the usual brightness in her voice coming back, so…_it can't hurt, right?_

I took a deep breath. "I was in a haze. Just an endless gray foggy void. I could hear Professor Oak's voice around me, asking my name and…Gary was there too. Or, not Gary, but an image of him. And I gave him that name. On accident. I just picked one, out of a cloud of flying names and it became his name. Then we shrank, both of us, and that's how I ended up here. I was in my room, dressed, my mother, who I have no memory of, was downstairs. And…that's the last I can remember."

I turned to look at her, and I could see she was having a hard time understanding how what I said was possible. "So…you don't remember anything? At all? Your childhood, your parents?" Her voice souned tender this time.

"Not a thing."

The silence returned, but it was brief this time.

"We should rest. We've been walking a while, and we don't know how much farther there is to go." She had a point; being unerground, we had no perception of what time it actually was, but our internal clocks had kept ticking, and both of us were feeling rather tired. I pressed my back against the wall of the tunel and slid down until I was sitting on the rough ground. Caroline followed suit, plopping down to my right. Feu was still dancing around with her small fireball, causing tall shadows to flicker in and out of existence around us.

"What about…you know, running away?" I was apprehensive about asking the question since it could've been another sensitive topic, but I needed answers, and now was as good a time as any to get them.

"Are you asking how, or why?"

"Both, I guess."

Caroline tried to stifle a yawn into her elbow, then began the story. "It goes back to my parents. After grandpa, I didn't really have anyone else, aside from our Pokémon." She gave a slight nod to her Vulpix. "Dad works for Silph Co., Mom is a contracted engineer for an electric train system that's supposed to connect us and the Johto region. I had no friends at school, no parents at home, and I was just so frustrated and bored with everything in my life. I needed excitement and change and I had nothing to keep me there so…I ran away."

I had to admit, I was impressed. I never would've pegged Caroline as the rich girl with everything in life given to her. _That's why she ran away. That lifestyle just wasn't for her._

"I took Feu and Yin who lived with us, put them in some Pokéballs I bought, slipped out of the northern gatehouse and just left. I kept away from the routes so that nobody would try to battle me, I managed to catch Houdini sometime after the first day, and eventually I ran into you." She puctuated the end of her story by turning to look at me. "And I'm glad I did."

"I'm glad you did too, but…what about Tank?"

She gave a short sigh. "Dad was in a research division for Silph. He was studying Water types for the possible development of a new line of Pokéballs meant to capture them most effectively. There was something about finding evolutionary relationships too, but I don't know what that was all about. Tank was one of the Pokémon he was studying, and I just swiped him from the desk right before I left…I basically stole him. Not just from my Dad, but from the company too." I could tell she was ashamed of her acquisition, but it gave me an idea.

"I think I know how we're going to get your Pokémon to obey you as a team" I said, as the details of my plan came together.

"How?"

"You're going to catch them, for real. Houdini was the only one you captured legitimately, that's why he listens to you. The Pokéballs have an indoctrination effect tuned to whoever captured the Pokémon." I could see a smile spreading on her face as she was putting the pieces together.

"So we release them, and then catch them all over again!" She jumped up from her sitting position and reached for the balls at her hip.

"No no, not here" I stopped her, catching her hand with mine. "It needs to be fair. We're in an underground tunnel far outside of any of their natural habitats. When we get to Vermillion City, we'll find a route where we won't be bothered, and you can do it there."

The idea excited her, but she sat herself back down and called Feu back into her ball, who had in the meantime of our discussion fallen asleep. The wisp she was controlling swayed lazily over her head. Once Feu was back in her ball, the orb of blue fire fell to the ground, where it changed to the normal orange and yellow flames and flickered before dying out on its own, leaving us in darkness.

I felt the weight of Caroline's head on my shoulder, and her voice echoing from around the tunnel. "We should get some sleep. Just a few hours. Then we'll go the rest of the way." I nodded. Even though she couldn't see me, I knew she could feel the movement of my head forming the gesture. I was surprised at how comforted I was by the closeness, but also at how nervous it made me. Something about the situation seemed delicate.

"Good night" I heard her whisper.

"Good night…Leaf…" Unlike when we shared a bed in the Cerulean Pokémon Center, I wasn't using her nickname sarcastically. I felt her smile through the fabric on my shoulder and knew that she understood. It was funny to me how just a couple nights ago, sharing a bed was awkward, and now she was resting comfortably on my shoulder.

_We've really grown close_. _Really close_.

I leaned my head back, allowed my eyes to shut, and my mind…_to dream._

* * *

_All I could see in the dark room was computers. _

_Dozens of them, lining the walls, measuring temperatures, heart rates, brain activities, energy levels. _

_Thousands of buttons and dials and screens. _

_Men in coats with clipboards running amok. _

_A red light blinked on and off, bathing the room in a bloody glow. _

_A siren blared. _

_A deafening explosion._

_Fire. _

_Bodies._

_Ah…it felt…_

_Good..._

* * *

It seemed like only a few minutes later when Leaf was shaking me awake. Struggling to get my senses back into reality, I stood up too quickly and became lightheaded. Nauseous, even.

"You alright?" I could see Feu was back out, balancing a new Will 'o' Wisp on her nose, the blue flames reflecting fromher black eyes. Caroline was back too, the concern on her face causing the shadows across to darken.

"Fine. Bad dream." I doubled over, trying to get the nausea to subside. "Weird dream."

"Can you walk?" She placed a hand on my back and tried to straighten me up, but I resisted.

"I'm fine. How long were we asleep?"

"Not sure, I'd guess a few hours. Mike, what did you dream?"

My breathing was ragged and shallow, my face was covered in sweat.

"It looked like a lab accident" I managed to force out of my heaving lungs. "It was a disaster."

"What lab?"

"I wish I knew." We shared a glance, hers fraught with concern, mine with confusion. "We should go."

Feu pranced ahead of us while we shouldered our packs, passed a bottle of fresh water between us, and continued down the tunnel. I decided to take out my Pokédex and scroll through the data I'd collected for Professor Oak. It provided us with some more light, but also with an interesting revelation; the newest entry in the Pokédex was of Gyarados, which the device classified as both a Water and a Flying type Pokémon. _Gyarados can fly?_

"Leaf?" I said, asking for her attention by using the nickname I knew she appreciated. "Are you sure you don't know anything about what evolutionary connections your dad was looking for?" I showed her the odd Dex entry to punctuate my question.

"I don't know what exactly he was looking for, but I could tell you some of the stuff I learned about it in school." I nodded. It couldn't hurt to know some more about the creatures we spend so much time with.

"See, there was a groundbreaking publication a couple years back. 'On the Origin of Types', it was called. The author was a renowned evolutionary researcher named Rowan who was conducting experiments in the Sinnoh region. The text was trying to draw connections between the seventeen different Pokémon types and where they all came from, related to each other. So far, his theories haven't been disproven, but there are also pieces of the story missing."

I pocketed the Pokédex and began to listen to her summary with rapt attention.

"His theory starts with the idea that the first Pokémon types were the ones that were most directly related to the natural elements, as well as those that came out of earlier organisms: those would be Normal, Ground, Water and Fire types. I don't remember the exact chain, but he then says that each of those types branched out into specializations based on geography into the other types we know about today. Normal types expanded into the Fighting, Dark, Psychic and Ghosts. Ground expanded into Rock, Plant, and with some human assistance, Steel. Water grew into the Ice types, and Fire types streamlined their process of energy release to become Electric types. Flying types were a natural niche that rose out of all of the others. Bug and Poison types evolved in convergence with the Plant types, although some Poison types have a more direct man-made cause."

I counted everything she mentioned on my fingers, but one was missing. "You said there were seventeen types, right?"

"Well that's where the theory starts to really fall apart. The last type is Dragon, and Rowan's research is completely unable to peg their origins. In fact, he was having trouble figuring out where the original four came from too. Because science couldn't explain it, he turned to mythology, and the scientific community didn't like that very much. The part of his book that tries to trace the origin of Pokémon as a whole reads a lot like a sacred text. He mentions something that we call Legendary Pokémon, who are directly responsible for shaping the rest of the species and even the regions they live on. But there's no direct evidence to prove they exist, hence the name."

Caroline was getting tired of talking, but she indulged me and continued after a brief gulp of water. I took it as a cue to ask a question: "You said there wasn't any direct evidence, but is there any at all?"

"Some. It's not compelling, but it can't be ignored either. Some Pokémon, like Gyarados, have clear connections to Dragon types, even though they've evolved far from them over time. That might be why they're classified as Flying. And unlike the Legendary Pokémon, the scientific community agrees that Dragons are real. They're just exceedingly rare."

"How do we know they're real?"

"We've seen them."

I was getting excited.

"Where?"

"Lance."

My pace slowed as I tried to remember why the name was so familiar to me. _I know I've heard it before._

"I give up. Who's Lance?"

Caroline smiled at my ignorance. "He's the Dragon Tamer. He's one of the Elite Four. The so-far only person to carry dragons around his waist. When he showed up at the tournament at the Indigo Plateau, people thought he wasn't using real Pokémon. But an investigation revealed that he was battling with real, genuine dragons. He placed at the very top of the brackets. He was so close to being champion." Caroline was as excited as I was; I could tell she was narrating the story now from her own experience, probably watching Lance battle on TV back at home. "But he lost."

"How? To who?"

"Lorelei. She was a real bookworm, specializing with Ice types. She somehow figured out that Lance's dragons were only powerful until they were on a field with an Ice type. She practically obliterated his team, and beating such a powerful trainer with an undefeated roster is what earned her spot on the Elite Four too."

I had to imagine the scandal that erupted around that match. Lance, one battle away from taking the title of Kanto Champion with his never-before-seen team full of powerful and rare dragons, losing to a girl who had simply done her homework.

"They seem fascinating. The Elite Four. The most powerful trainers in the region."

Caroline nodded in agreement, then brought a welcome change of subject to the conversation: "We're here."

Feu was now so far ahead of us that the wisp was just a faint glow at the end of the tunnel.

_The end of the tunnel._

Caroline and I broke into a run, racing to where the small fiery orb hovered. Feu chirped happily when we reached her, pointing with her nose to a trapdoor in the ceiling high above us. A ladder, old and decayed, leaned against the wall.

_Shit._ "How do we get up there?" I started searching the floor for a rock to throw up at the trapdoor.

"Shhh! Listen!" She was suddenly speaking in a harsh whisper. I immediately stopped moving and tuned my ears to whatever it was she was listening to.

I could hear the sound of footsteps, chattering voices, the clinking of glasses, faint music. _Whoever's house we're under, it sounds like they're having a party._

"Should we wait?" Caroline hissed to me.

"Hello, up there!" I decided to answer her question by yelling up at the trapdoor. The noise didn't subside, so I increased my volume.

"HELLO!" I yelled louder, but too much of my sound was being lost to the walls of the tunnel. They still couldn't hear me. Caroline forcefully punched my arm, which I had brought up to cup around my mouth for more sound. "What the hell are you doing! What if they're not on our side!" She persisted in her whisper, but I was tired of being in this tunnel.

_I know how to get their attention_. I clicked open Buffy's Pokéball, and the small bat appeared flapping its wings by my head. "Could you do an Astonish for me?" I asked politely. Buffy wasted no time; the high-pitched shriek that came out of her mouth was enough to get the attention of people on Henry's end of the tunnel, let alone the partygoers right above us. The noises stopped while Buffy's wail continued, ensuring that they knew where it was coming from. Once she stopped, I followed up with my own voice.

"Hello! I am Red, of Pallet Town! I traveled here from Henry's Daycare Center in Cerulean City to the floor beneath you now! If you know anything about who I am, I ask you to please let us out of this tunnel!"

The silence above us persisted, and I heard Caroline holding her breath. After a couple of seconds, a single pair of feet clicked over to the area directly above us, and the trapdoor swung open, allowing a bright light into the tunnel. The silhouette of a man in a tall hat filled the bright square.

"Hello there, Red." The voice sounded elderly yet animated. "Henry said you'd be here. My name is Irwin, President of the Pokémon Fan Club of Vermillion City. You certainly took the path less traveled, didn't you."

Caroline and I exchanged glances. She let out the air she was holding and smiled.

_We're with friends._

* * *

**Sorry it's been longer than usual to get this chapter up. I've had a lot going on, including planning out this story better so that I don't end up pulling a J.J. Abrams on you all. **

**Hope you guys like the little bit of Elite Four history, and Rowan's "On The Origin of Types". I mean, hey, if I'm going to have my own world, I may as well not keep any secrets.  
**

**But what's with the amnesia? The weird dream? And will Red EVER CATCH ANYTHING NEW!  
**

**Next chapter will be up soon, I promise. Thanks for all feedback and support!  
**


	12. Training Days

Chapter 12: Training Days

Irwin's method of getting Leaf and I out of the tunnel was rather unorthodox. He released a large gray Pokémon resembling a male bodybuilder who dropped into the tunnel with us. Hoisting first Caroline and then myself onto his bulging shoulders, the Pokémon (the Pokédex identified it as a Machoke) made a mighty leap up the rectangular tube and onto the floor of the house we were under. That's when the applause started.

Catching my breath from the rush of Machoke's jump, I raised myself to my feet to greet the partygoers. They were all dressed very nicely, with men in perfectly pressed and cleaned suits and women in stunningly beautiful dresses. Most everyone had a glass in hand and people were milling around in polite discussion, which our entrance had rudely interrupted. Nearly every person in the room had their eyes on us, the new arrivals, severely underdressed and dirty. No one seemed to mind. Their applause continued as I lowered myself to my knees to help up Caroline, who was having a hard time getting her air back after Machoke's rough handling.

"Are you alright?" I could barely hear myself over the group. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine, just help me up please?" I did as I was asked, wrapping one arm around her waist and taking her hand with the other. Even though there was nothing particularly romantic about the gesture, having my arm around her body sent an electric shock through mine and I couldn't help but blush and look away once she was on her feet.

_I hope she didn't see that…_

She smiled, and we both turned to meet the gaze of the still-cheering fans. Irwin's voice boomed from behind us.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to our humble gathering, Red, the Kanto Champion-to-be, and his…uh…lovely female companion."

Another blush was brought to my face, and another cheer and round of applause was roused from the partygoers, who were now slowly receding back to their conversations, while occasionally stealing glances back at us.

"My apologies, Ms." Irwin was now addressing us directly. He wore a black suit like the other men at the party, but adorned with a top hat, a cane with a golden bird's head sprouting from its top, and a monocle peeking out of the pocket of his coat. His face was wizened but bright with life and laughter. He gave a bow to Caroline, and extended a hand. Without missing a beat, she placed her own hand on his, where it was lightly kissed. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Irwin. I'm Caroline" she said, laughing at the overly formal gesture.

"It's a true honor to meet you both." Irwin straightened his legs and rose to his full height again. "Especially you, Mr. Red."

_Oh, this guy just _oozes_ class…_

"It's great to hear that, Mr. Irwin." I gave a slight bow to him as well. _When in Rome, right?_

"Please, please, just Irwin will do fine." He was now leading us to an unoccupied corner of the large room, which I could tell was decorated for the lavish lifestyle Irwin probably lived. A long, polished table took up the majority of the room, with dozens of chairs surrounding it, all laid out with glasses, plates and silverware. Apparently, dinner hadn't started yet. Various oil paintings of people and Pokémon alike surrounded the room on the walls, and a glittering chandelier hung from the ceiling. The trapdoor we had just emerged from was covered by a long red carpet with the image of a horse with a mane of fire stretched across its entirety.

Irwin brought the two of us to a counter at the back of the room, where a man in a vest poured us drinks and Irwin began to chat with us.

"Mr. Red, in all truth, we anxiously awaited your arrival. Forgive us, but we simply weren't expecting you to appear underneath my floor." He laughed, and we laughed along, not wanting to seem rude, though Caroline and I subconsciously agreed that we were ludicrously out-of-place.

"There was no other way, sir. We wanted to reach Vermillion City as soon as possible and we couldn't cut through Saffron like we planned, so Henry was kind enough to let us use the tunnel you built, and we're truly grateful." As I spoke, Caroline nodded enthusiastically, and sipped out of her glass. I hadn't touched my own yet. I wasn't thirsty.

"Ah yes, Henry is a delightful chap. He's been my friend for as long as I can remember. Truly great of him to let you in on our little secret. Of course, now everybody here knows about it, but it's no worry, none at all. We're all on your side, Mr. Red. That was quite a show you put on for us back in the Cerulean Gym, no?"

I cringed slightly at the use of the word 'show'. _That's exactly what I _wasn't_ trying to do…_

"So you saw it then? The match? The speech?" I reached for my glass standing expectantly on the counter, but I wasn't planning to drink it.

"All of it, every second. Everyone here, in fact." He glided his open palm through the air, indicating to everybody in the room. "The Pokémon Fan Club supports you entirely. You are truly a very impressive trainer, and it brought us joy to hear your message so clearly. We were also very impressed with the state of your Ivysaur. Peak physical condition, it seems."

"Thank you very much" I nodded, letting a genuine smile come to my face. Everyone I interacted with since the Cerulean match had been entirely supportive. I know that my scene must've made me some enemies, but I was glad that I haven't met them yet.

"So what are you celebrating here tonight anyway?" Caroline asked, looking around the room at all the happy faces.

"Why, the maiden voyage of the S.S. Anne tomorrow, of course! She's a luxury cruise ship that our club has helped to fund the construction of, and tomorrow she leaves Vermillion port for the very first time." Irwin flashed a toothy smile and twirled his cane.

"What a coincidence!" Caroline exclaimed "We have tickets to board!" She looked at me, and I understood. We really only had one ticket, but neither of us wanted to tell Irwin the story of how we came across it.

"That _is_ a coincidence, isn't it! Well, by all means, my friends, join our festivities!" And with that, Irwin ceased spinning his cane and strolled off to greet his guests.

I placed my still-full glass back on the counter and began to walk after him. "Mr. Irwin, I have some questions I'd like to ask you, if you have a moment."

"Fire away, Mr. Red, fire away." He ceased shaking hands with one of the men he was greeting and turned his attention back to me.

"Firstly, I'd like to know about where Caroline and I could stay the night tonight, and also I'd really appreciate any information you could give me about boarding the S.S. Anne tomorrow, and about your gym leader, Lt. Surge."

Irwin looked confused for a brief moment, but eventually realized. "Ah yes, you're here for the gym challenge after all as well. I'm not particularly keen to the whereabouts of the Lieutenant, but his gym is located near the docks at the south of the city. As far as spending the night, the Pokémon Center is just down the street to your left once you exit, but I do insist that you stay with us a little longer. After all, the night is still young!" He rushed off once again to greet more guests, and Caroline appeared behind me.

"We should go. I don't like being in crowds" I whispered to her.

"My parents sometimes took me to Dad's business parties. I hate it, all this high-society crap. Let's blow this pop stand" she said back to me. Grabbing my hand, she plowed her way through the crowd of excited conversation, moving towards the large double doors at the front of the room. We were nearly there when Irwin reappeared behind us again.

"Mr. Red, I would like for you to have this, as assistance on your journey and a token of the support of myself and the Pokémon Fan Club." He handed me a small slip of paper that looked like it was torn out of a newspaper. Examining it, the first thing I saw was the enormous sum of money printed on the top.

"A million? You're giving me a million dollars?" I was stunned.

"Oh no, my friend, you misunderstand. This is a coupon for a free bicycle from the Cerulean cycling shope! Their prices are rather outrageous, as you can see" he pointed to the seven-digit number on the voucher "but I have no need for a bicycle, and I'm sure it'll make your travels more comfortable."

I remembered the bicycle store Irwin was referencing. It was hard to forget with its bright pink and yellow awning. I felt rather disgusted at the price they demanded for it, which made me all the more grateful for Irwin's gift.

"Thank you so much. You and Henry have both done so much for us in so little time." Caroline added to the sentiment. "You've been wonderful, we really appreciate it."

"It was my pleasure, children. Best of luck on your travels. You can be assured I will be personally watching your endeavors at every chance I have. Remember, you will always be welcome within my walls." Irwin ended his farewell with another bow, and receded into the crowd once more.

We turned on our heels and I palmed the voucher. Caroline reached the door first, pulling it open and walking through. I caught the door as it was closing and heard a deep slow voice from behind me. "If you want a chance at defeating Surge, go to the cave at the east of town"

I turned to identify the speaker, and spotted a man in a green suit with a drink in hand raise his glass to me and sip. "Thanks for the advice" I called to him, but the man seemed confused. "What advice?" he asked, taking another sip from his raised glass. His voice was certainly not the same one I had just heard.

"I'm sorry, wrong person." I started searching for the _right _person who had just spoken to me, but nobody else seemed close enough to be responsible.

_Weird…_

Caroline popped her head back through the doorway. "Hey, you comin'?"

"Yeah." I continued searching the crowd, but the effort was fruitless. "Yeah, I'm coming." We slipped out of the door together, and let it swing shut behind us.

* * *

_The night is young…what a joke…_

Stepping outside, we were greeted with bright rays of sunshine and the hustle and bustle of Vermillion City, easily the most lavish city I'd visited so far. My internal clock certainly felt like it should be evening, but the sun was high in the sky.

_I guess being a tunnel for a day really messes with your perception of time._

This was good news though! It meant that Caroline and I had the entire rest of the day to do whatever we wished. My personal agenda would certainly consist of training the team, most of whom I haven't needed to use in a long while, and checking out the cave that was mentioned to me just a short while ago.

"Let's go, let's go! We need to find a route to train on!" Caroline was very enthusiastic, and I could understand why; she was going to recapture her team to earn their obedience.

"Alright, there's probably one north of us" I said, trying to calm her, while also taking in my surroundings. Vermillion City seemed to be overpopulated, as the number of people on the streets seemed to be much larger than the number one would expect by looking at all the individual homes that lined them. _Are they all here for the S.S. Anne?_ No sooner had the thought occurred to me that I spotted the ship itself. Vermillion City was a port, and the harbor was clearly visible from where we were standing. Occupying an impressive amount of space was the large, white ship herself, with her name emblazoned on the bow in bright blue letters. The water of the harbor was also a shockingly clean blue, glittering in the sunlight.

"We should probably stop by a Pokémon Center first, get ourselves a room. I really want to take a shower." Caroline was turning her head this way and that way to try and find the Pokémon Center Irwin had mentioned. I decided not to question the logic of showering and then going onto a route to train Pokémon; it was likely far over my head anyway.

"Caroline, I want you to have this." I pulled out the voucher that Irwin had given me, now slightly crumpled from being in my pocket. "You've spent so much money on me already, and you turned down the nugget from that Rocket back in Cerulean." I ended up selling the nugget at a Pokémart for a hefty sum, which we spent a portion of on our supplies. "I don't need a bike anyway" I finished, handing the slip to her.

"Come on, you know you don't have to pay me back for anything!" she smiled, but took the voucher anyway. "Thanks Mike. I appreciate it. If we ever get back to Cerulean, I'll use it, promise."

The two of us continued to stroll through the city, exchanging friendly greetings with passers-by and marveling at the beautiful homes. Once we reached the Pokémon Center and got a room for ourselves, Caroline practically sprinted into the shower and left me to wait for her on the bed. The soft mattress felt great against my back after sleeping sitting up in the tunnel against the rocky walls. When I heard the running water in the shower, my mind began to wander. I imagined the hot water running over her smooth, pale skin, down her neck and…

_No, you can't be having thoughts like this…You don't even know how old she is!_

To avoid myself from further perversions, I got up off the bed and left a note for Caroline, telling her that I'm going to investigate the cave on the east side of the city and I'd meet her on Route 6 as soon as possible. Then I put on my pack, filled with medicines and Pokéballs, and left the Center.

* * *

The sun was still high in the sky when I reached the eastern edge of the city, getting another long look at the Anne in Vermillion harbor. I couldn't wait to battle aboard it tomorrow…_but first, let's explore this cave._

The cave in question was just a half-mile outside the city border. A large wodden sign posted in front of the rocky entrance read "DIGGLET CAVE", with various profane graffitis scrawled across the wood. _Well, it doesn't sound dangerous…and my team can protect me if it is._I clambered past the rocks into the mouth of the cave, which was surprisingly well lit by the outside sunlight. The cave entrance had a ladder leading deep underground, which I took, as there was hardly anything else of interest in the first room.

It was darker at the bottom of the ladder, but still enough light to see by. But something wasn't right…_why does my head hurt so much all of a sudden? _I couldn't take more than two steps before my knees gave out and a fierce cold overtook my body. I fell to the ground, my hands clutching the dirt beneath me, shivering.

_It's so cold here. _

_Why did I choose such a cold place to hide._

_Miles underground, so far from home._

_No…that was never my home. _

_I burned down a prison, not a home._

_If only I could have burned with it…_

_So…cold…_

Eventually the shivering stopped and the headache went away. I was probably only out a minute or so. I noticed I wasn't alone anymore…a short brown lump rose up out of the ground next to me. It had a largely featureless face, with just two small black eyes and a round bright pink nose.

"Dig!" it squeaked to me, out of its invisible mouth. My first thought was that it was telling me to dig, but I quickly realized it was a Pokémon.

"Hey little guy" Still laying on the cave floor, I raised my hand to place on the earthy head in front of me. The scalp was soft and warm, and just a little fuzzy. I used my other hand to pull out the Pokédex and scan the creature. It was, in fact, a female Diglett. The Pokédex identified it as a Ground type as well.

_Ground type. That's why I was told to come here; Ground types are the only ones with a natural advantage to Electric types._

"I think I'm supposed to catch you. What do you think, pal?" The Diglett nodded enthusiastically to me and I was glad I didn't have to battle her to join the team. I raised myself to a kneeling position and pulled an empty Pokéball from a side pocket on my bag. "Welcome to the team, Andrea" I said, pressing the Pokéball's button to the Diglett's forehead. The ball clicked open and sucked the Diglett in, then shook a couple of times in my palm. After a few wobbles, the shutter sealed, and Andrea was part of the group.

I stood, and slapped the now occuppied Pokéball onto my waist with the others, then looked down the tunnel. _I wonder what's at the other end. Maybe after the Anne tomorrow, I'll check out where this comes out._ With that, I ascended back up the ladder and out of the cave.

* * *

"Yeah, _on _the road! Just this big fatass Pokémon sleeping there, and nobody can get it to move!"

"That's weird…and it just refuses to be caught, huh?"

I rushed by the two men, picking up only a part of their conversation. It didn't seem important. I had to meet Caroline on Route 6 to make sure she successfully recaptured her team, and then train up my own.

It took a while, but eventually I reached a wide open grassy plain, with a small pond even, to the north of the city. Caroline was already there, staring down her Eevee, Yin. Houdini the Spearow was apparently her Pokémon of choice, as he was perched on her sholder, ready to fly.

I watched from a distance as Houdini took off like a bullet and tackled Yin, who just barely managed to land on her feet after the collision. Several more passes from the bird, and the Eevee was visibly exhausted. Being a household pet meant she didn't have the stamina required of trained Pokémon. In the next instant, Caroline lobbed a Pokéball at her old teammate to legitimize their relationship, and lo and behold, it succeeded.

"Hey, Pokémon Master!" I called to her teasingly. She looked over at me and smiled, holstering the newly recaptured Eevee. I sprinted to her and we sat together on the grass.

"I totally forgot to tell you about this earlier, but Bill, the inventor from the cape? He's doing research related to Eevees and their multiple evolutions. He said so far there are only three known, but his theory suggests that there should be at least one for every type. I just thought you'd find it interesting that you can choose what Yin evolves into." Caroline shrugged.

"Why would I want her to evolve? I like her exactly the way she is, the way she was during my childhood." I could understand what she meant, although I disagreed. "And it seems wrong to force an evolution on a Pokémon anyway, right? I mean, if it happens naturally, that's not a problem, but using stones to evolve them? What if they don't want to?"

_She has a point_.

"I…hadn't thought of that. Is there a way to stop evolution permanently?"

She nodded. "I have it, actually. It's called an Everstone. I thought it just looked pretty but apparently it can also stop evolutions before they happen. Houdini is wearing it." As if on cue, the Spearow flapped down in front of us, and I spotted a small anklet on its talon with a smooth gray stone in it. _How did I never notice that before?_

"But isn't ceasing evolution completely just as bad as forcing it? Pokémon could want to evolve, or they could not. How would we know the difference?" I hadn't realized it before, but the question had become a bit of a serious dilemma for me. _Bill's research makes it so that he has to force Eevees into evolution, but there's no way to reverse the process. Is it ok to tamper with a Pokémon's DNA for the sake of scientific research?_

I resolved to ask Bill about it when we got back to the Center as Caroline and I passed a water bottle between us. "So the whole team is back?" I asked, spying the Pokéballs around her waist.

"Yep! Everyone is ready for action!" She jumped up. "Now show me how to train them!"

The next several hours were spent with me showing Caroline the proper way to train a Pokémon, focusing especially on how to harness a new technique to perfection. Luckily for me, Snare was the ideal example. He himself was on the verge of learning a new technique as well; the resin on the inside of his bulb would harden and crack whenever it opened, releasing several shrapnel-like pellets into the air. The Pokédex called the attack "Razor Leaf" despite there not being any leaves involved.

"So the first thing you want to do is to ask your Pokémon to recreate the technique. So with Snare, I just want him to produce the razor leaves. He has to be able to consistently make them before he can aim them and give them power. Snare, Razor Leaf!" The bulb burst open and the 'leaves' exploded outwards haphazardly, flying in all directions at random speeds.

Caroline then tried the same with Tank, who was learning how to produce a stream of water from his mouth. "Water Gun!" The squirtle's stomach swelled up, and a jet of water gargled out of his mouth. There wasn't a particular direction with the stream either, and Tank seemed to be having fun just spraying it around.

Our training session continued, and Caroline was really getting confident with her team. Everyone developed a new technique and even were getting along better with each other. My own team had powered up on several levels. Not only were new attacks learned (Saphira developed the ability to produce a stream of purple flame from her mouth, which was equally beautiful as it was deadly), but several evolutions were to be had as well. Buffy was first, increasing in size and growing two hook-like feet. With a larger body came a larger mouth with sharper fangs and, most importantly, Buffy's evolution gave her functional eyes. Becoming a Golbat was a tremendous battle advantage, as Buffy no longer needed to locate her targets with sound.

The other evolution happened with Remy, whose body practically quadrupled in size, as well as the length of his fangs, which were now so long that he literally could not close his mouth all the way. A long worm-like tail replaced his previously curled and bushy one, and spiky amber fur replaced the smooth purple from before. Remy was now a Raticate.

Andrea proved to be a formidable ally. She was ludicrously fast and was capable of immense seismic activity. I didn't want to grow cocky, but I couldn't imagine how Surge would be able to defend himself against her.

The team also saw another addition very soon after the last one. During our training, an Oddish ambled through the crossfire, seemingly oblivious to the various attacks missing its body by inches. While he was easy to catch (he made excellent target practice for the team's new attacks), I couldn't help but feel I wouldn't be needing him on the team very soon, as Snare already filled the niche of a Grass/Poison type. Nevertheless, I gave him the name Arnold, and let the ball virtually assimilate itself into Bill's boxing system.

After such a training session, both trainer and Pokémon alike were absolutely exhausted. We stumbled our aching bodies into the Center in the late afternoon and dropped our Pokéballs on the nurse's counter. Caroline went back to our room, but I made my way to the PC in the lobby to make my phone calls. First was Professor Oak, who for some odd reason didn't answer the call. _I think he'll appreciate the new Pokédex data anyway. I'll catch him in the morning. _The call allowed me to transfer over my Pokédex entries to the Professor's computer before the connection was cut. Next, I called Bill.

It took several rings, but eventually the young inventor appeared on the monitor.

"Hello there, 'Red'" he said, emphasizing my pseudonym, which I hadn't heard all day. "How goes it?"

"Quite well, Bill, thank you. And yourself?" I was relieved Bill actually picked up, unlike the Professor. _I wonder where he is…_

"Moving on to bigger and better things, my friend. Though I suppose you could say the same for you. Thank you for acknowledging me during your address at the gym the other day. I'm glad we see eye-to-eye. I would've attended the match myself but" he gave a shrug "you know how I feel about those things."

"It's not a problem at all, Bill. I was just calling you to let you know that I'll be using your S.S. Anne ticket tomorrow and to thank you again for it." Bill nodded in response, his curled hair exaggerating the movements of his head. "But I also had a couple of questions for you."

"By all means." Bill leaned back in his chair, crossed one leg over the other and his arms over his chest. "What would you like to ask?"

"First, about your research with the Eevees. Do you think it's…ethical?" Bill rolled his eyes. _He's had this conversation before…_

"Mike, I'm a scientist. I can't let myself become concerned with the ethicality of my experiments. I don't enjoy it, but it is necessary."

"Can't let yourself become concerned? You were the one telling me about how awful it is that Pokémon are made to battle, and you made the ethical choice to build a storage system for them. How are you not concerned with this newer project?" I felt my voice getting stronger than I intended, and Bill sensed as much.

"Listen." Bill uncrossed his legs and leaned forward in his chair, looking stern. "If some Eevees need to have their DNA messed with so that we can know exactly how they work, it's not a crime. There's a goal behind my work and I strive for it with as little interference in the natural world as possible. But sometimes, humans need to meddle. Besides, my work isn't even close to the worst genetic engineering experiments that Kanto has seen in recent years."

I felt an ominous tone come about during his last sentence, but decided not to pursue it. As Bill would say, it wasn't of my concern.

"You said you had another question?" His tone relaxed, and I was glad he wasn't angry with me for questioning his work.

"Yeah, it's about…revival."

"How do you mean?" I could sense an interest in his voice, but the fact that he didn't know what I was talking about was disheartening.

"I found a rock, like a pointed yellow diamond, in Mt. Moon when I was on my way to Cerulean City. I didn't know what it was for, but I kept it, and it…" I paused, unsure of how he would respond to my next words "…saved my Pokémon's life."

I told him the whole story, about finding the rock, how Buffy was dying during our last unpleasant encounter with Gary, and how the stone magically saved her. Bill seemed equally intrigued and puzzled.

"And it's gone? You have nothing from it that you could send me for analysis?"

I shook my head. The rock didn't even leave behind dust in my pocket. I'd checked.

"Well, that certainly is peculiar, but I should tell you, there is no known substance that can bring Pokémon, or people for that matter, back to life. The only explanation I could conceive of is that it was just a powerful concentrate of potion, and that your Zubat wasn't really as close to death as you thought." I sighed. _I knew he wouldn't believe me._

"But if you do find another, or anything like it, make sure to send it to me. I'd be very interested to analyze this mysterious rock."

"Thanks Bill. I appreciate it. Thanks for your help."

"Anytime, Mike. Good night."

And with that, the call was ended.

I rose from the chair at the PC and walked across the lobby to our room. Caroline was already sound asleep when I got there, and as I changed, I watched the soft rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.

_Where would I be without her._

I had a lot to be grateful for. For the health and safety of my team, for Caroline's companionship, for the support of the people I met in my quest to become Kanto Champion.

_I guess I should also be grateful that I'm boarding a luxury cruise ship tomorrow. Nothing can possibly go wrong._

* * *

**Making this an interesting chapter was kind of a struggle. I didn't want to do another 'filler' so I tried to beef it up as much as possible. We've got two new team members now, some really bizarre circumstances and even hints of a romance. Not my worst, right?****  
**

**Andrea: Referencing the San Andreas Fault, a tectonic fissure under California responsible for most of the earthquakes they get there.  
Arnold: The flower that Oddish/Gloom/Vileplume are based on is called _Rafflesia arnoldii. _It's the single largest flower on the planet, and produces the smell of rotting flesh.  
Saphira (since I forgot to do her last chapter): A blue dragon from the Eragon series (also known as the Inheritance Cycle) by Christopher Paolini.  
**

**I'm already hard at work on the next chapter which I promise will be loads more exciting than this one.  
**

**Keep reading, and thank you for all your feedback!  
**


	13. All Aboard

Chapter 13: All Aboard

_16 days earlier_

"Sir, the signal has vanished entirely. We've lost him."

There was an unpleasant growl from the man behind the desk. His usually calm demeanor was now tarnished with the hint of a sneer on his face, revealing his true feelings about the update.

"That's not what I wanted to hear. You said there was _good_ news." It took every ounce of self-control he had to not murder his informant on the spot.

"Yes, sir. You see, the original signal is gone, but…it's been replaced."

"What do you mean…_replaced?_"

_This doesn't seem like good news at all._

"It's the same signature, but much weaker, and on the other side of the continent. We feel it may be worth keeping an eye on even though we know it isn't the specimen."

The anger had been abated. Any sort of lead at this point was useful.

"Keep me informed of the behaviors of the new signal. If anything changes, I am to be the first to know. Do I make myself clear?" Whenever he asked that question, it was intended to be rhetorical.

The informant left, and the man behind the desk was left alone in his office.

_You've certainly caused me a lot of trouble…but a creature like you doesn't simply vanish without a trace…_

* * *

_Present day_

"I don't like the looks of those clouds."

It was early morning. Caroline and I stood outside the Pokémon Center, finishing off the rolls we had for breakfast and getting ready to board the S.S. Anne. The clouds she mentioned were to the south, looming ominously over the waters of the harbor, while the sun was slowly rising in the east, half of it still submerged under the jagged line of distant mountains. Even from Vermillion, I could make out the tallest peak. _Mt. Silver._

"Yeah, it doesn't look like a good day for a maiden voyage. Then again, it's a pretty big ship." I took another chunk of the roll into the mouth and chewed nervously. Despite the hours of training yesterday, I was nervous about going on the ship. Gym Leaders aside, this would be the first time I actively went looking for a fight. It didn't feel right. I was worried about the danger I was putting my team into.

Speaking of the team, I now had seven Pokémon in my possession, with Arnold being the only one to sit out for the day. My belt was filled with the red and white capsules of the rest of my team, and they knew as well as I that we weren't boarding the cruise ship for luxury.

I swallowed the roll and it settled uncomfortably in my stomach, like a dry piece of cloth. _I wonder how many people aboard will recognize me. More importantly, I wonder how many of them will be on my side._

"Ready to go?" I turned and looked at Caroline, who angled her head toward the harbor, indicating what she meant. I nodded.

"Let's walk by the gym though. It should be over that way somewhere." As we walked, the sunlight bounced off the tiled roofs of the lavish homes, creating a bright reflective atmosphere of the same dusky red color that the city was named after. The Vermillion Gym was practically on the harbor, right by the docks, facing the sea. There was nothing of note about the building itself, mostly because of the dense undergrowth that wrapped around it on all sides, obscuring much of the building from view. _It looks more out of maintenance than the gym in Viridian._ I traced the path of vines up the wall of the gym, imagining it to be almost like a larger version of Snare's Leech Seed.

"It looks…abandoned. Are you sure Surge is still there?" Caroline seemed concerned that maybe another gym leader had left his post as well.

"I doubt it. Everyone talks about him like he's still here. Maybe he's just not good at gardening?" The riddle remained; _if Surge is still here, why would he let his gym get so overgrown?_

We continued walking, transitioning from the dry dirt to planks of wood as we crossed the docks, approaching the ship. From a distance it looked big, but coming closer, I realized the ship was actually monstrously large, possibly the largest ever built. The boarding area was absolutely crowded with people, the vast majority of them well-dressed and clearly very rich. It was the second time in two days that Caroline and I felt very out-of-place.

The protocol seemed standard enough. Show your ticket, some ID, check your luggage, and check your Pokémon. Certain Pokémon of particular weight classes were restricted, such as Onix, as dictated by a large colorful notice just before the boarding area. The line thinned quickly, and soon it was our turn to board.

"Ticket and identification please" the crewman said without lifting his gaze to us. I pulled both from my pocket and handed them to him, then waited for the reaction. It took a while, but after staring at my trainer card for several seconds, he raised his eyes to look at me, bewildered and excited.

"Whoa, it's you!" His jaw dropped, then he quickly turned and called to a fellow of his in the same ship uniform. "Pete, Pete! C'mere, it's Red!" Another sailor, portlier than the first, jogged over and recognized me from a distance, his own jaw also dropping.

"Wow, this is so cool! Red is getting on the Anne! Look, he even has the badges! We saw your gym match, man, it was AWESOME!" The two men were getting far too excited, and it made both me and Caroline uncomfortable. After the initial bombardment of questions subsided, one sailor pointed to Caroline. "Who's she?"

"She's a good friend of mine, and she's traveling with me."

"She have a ticket?" I froze. For some reason, it didn't cross my mind that having only one ticket meant only one of us could get on the ship. Caroline came to the realization as we turned to look at each other to figure out what to do.

"Sorry Red, no ticket, no access." The sailor stamped my ticket and handed it back to me, then ushered me into the ship. _No, she's coming with me_.

"Tell you what" I said "I'll give you guys an autograph if you let my friend come aboard." I put one arm around Caroline's shoulder to reassure her that she wouldn't be left behind.

"I don't know, man. It's not really allowed…" The sailors looked at each other. Clearly this was a hard decision for them. _I just need to push them over the edge._

"I'll throw in the hat." I disengaged the cap from my head and spun on my index finger, tantalizing the two crewmen.

"Fine, fine, we'll cave." I tossed the cap to the portlier sailor, while the other reached for a notepad from his pocket, on which I quickly left a barely legible scrawl. "Just don't tell anyone we did this for your girlfriend, alright?"

An intense blush covered both of our faces, but neither of us responded. The second sailor led us up the walkway onto the ship's main deck, then went back down to his partner. All the way, Caroline and I couldn't make eye contact without another blush. _Girlfriend…is that what we look like? I kinda like that thought…_

"Well let's go, boyfriend!" She ran laughing up the rest of the ramp to the deck, her blonde waves flowing behind her like a curtain. In all honesty, the way she shone in the early morning light on a ship as regal as the Anne, I don't know how anyone couldn't fall in love with her...

* * *

_5 days earlier_

The man in the suit sat at his desk, gently rapping his fingers along the polished wooden surface and patiently waiting for the update he was promised. A woman in a white shirt and black skirt entered the office.

"Sir, some men from the lab are here t-" she started, but he cut her off.

"I know. Send them in."

The woman backed out of the office after a polite bow, and was replaced by two men; the informant who brought the original news, and a man in a white coat. The latter's image was accented by large glasses and a receding hair line.

"Sir" the informant began "the professor has come up with an update for our tracking project. He wished to speak with you immediately." The informant took a step back and folded his hands behind his back, politely giving the professor room to speak.

The man in the white coat nervously wrung his hands and spoke in a soft, mild-mannered voice. "After much analysis and discussion, we've concluded that the signal we are currently observing is not the same as the one from the, um…_accident._" The man behind the desk clenched a fist in response to the selected word, as if the incident in question was painful and embarrassing.

"We are not entirely sure of the new specimen's origins without direct observation, but we do believe there is a connection between it and our original." The professor was beginning to speed up in his explanation, as if the true reason for the meeting was quickly approaching. "Our evidence to support this claim is the new signal's trajectory; it is rapidly approaching the same area where the first vanished."

The man behind the desk released the fingers in his fist, but did not relax. This was not particularly good nor bad news. It was simply news.

"But it's not him." He spoke for the first time to the duo in his office.

"It is difficult to tell, sir. We are rather confident it is not. The biometric readings are decisively human but, then again…so were the others…we cannot be sure without directly observing the specimen, and it would be unwise to, uh…_make a scene_, so to speak, sir…" The professor was becoming nervous again. He wiped his sweaty palms on the sides of his coat, and allowed his bespectacled gaze to fall to the floor.

"I want to see it. Now." The man rose from his chair and approached the pair in front of him. This time, the informant spoke.

"I'm afraid we cannot do that, sir. The second signal has vanished as well, approximately 2.5 kilometers from the vanishing site of the first." The professor cringed, as if this was the part of the update he was hoping would be avoided.

_Our only lead. Gone. _

"When did we lose it?"

"An hour ago, sir. Very recently." The professor spoke this time, trying to soften the blow of the bad news and provide the boss with some hope.

"Find it." The man turned swiftly and returned to his desk.

"Find it? But sir, both have vanished without a trace and w-" The poor professor was sweating profusely. The meeting had not at all gone how he had expected.

"Find it, Professor, or I will make doubly sure that no one ever finds _you_."

The professor gave a squeak of fright, and shuffled quickly out of the room, followed by the informant whose face had paled considerably since he entered. The doors slid shut behind them.

_You must be running out of tricks, beast. This disappearing act isn't as great the second time..._

* * *

_Present_ _day_

"Attention passengers. This is your captain speaking. Please be aware that we are scheduled to leave port in two hours, and in one hour, it will no longer be possible to leave the ship."

The intercom clicked off, and I returned my attention to the battle at hand. Remy was staring down a Growlithe in one of the suites of the ship. A gentleman challenged me to a battle upon recognizing who I was, and since that was the reason I had arrived, I accepted. The gentleman with the Growlithe was my fifth battle aboard the S.S. Anne. My pockets were getting fat from collecting the wagered money and my team was becoming considerably stronger.

"Hyper Fang!" Despite Remy's dramatic increase in size, he has not become any slower, and traveled almost like a blur to Growlithe's position, delivering a solid chomp to his front paw. The Growlithe whined in pain and could no longer put his full weight on the injured foot.

"That's enough, you've proven yourself." The gentleman didn't seem bothered by the fresh wound on his Pokémon. _Then again, he probably has enough potions to heal everyone on the ship. _"It's been an honor to battle you, Mr. Red." He extended a hand to me, which I shook, then handed over a hefty sum to add to my swollen wallet.

"And thank you very much for an excellent battle." I recalled my Raticate while the gentleman pulled his Growlithe onto the bed and examined the damage. I took my leave and continued down the long hallway, looking for another opponent.

It took me a few battles on the Anne to realize this, but perhaps battling isn't really so bad when it's done reasonably. After all, none of my opponents on the ship seemed the least bit bloodthirsty, so for them it truly was just for sport. Not to mention that everyone was always prepared for a worst-case scenario with medications and training. Did that make it better, because they enjoy their entertainment without the need for carnage, or worse, because the very idea of pitting creatures against each other has desensitized them entirely?

I wasn't sure, but I had another hour before I had to find Caroline and get off the boat. She told me she'd be at the buffet, enjoying the free meal, and indulge herself in some battles as well. I warned her that battling on the Anne may not be a good idea for a rookie trainer, but after seeing the moral caliber of my opponents, I've begun to reconsider that warning.

_I can still get in a few more battles before we have to leave. The team could really use it._

Just then, the intercom clicked on again and the captain's voice rang through the halls.

"It has come to my attention that we have a special guest aboard, a young man by the name of Red. I would like to cordially invite him and his traveling companion to my quarters for a meal in their honor."

_Well dang!_ _Eating with the captain? Why not!_ I hoped Caroline heard the announcement while I consulted a map of the ship to find my route to the captain's quarters. It was up a few flights of stairs and down a hallway, so I set off, wasting no time. _It really is inconvenient that Caroline and I have no way to communicate when we're separated._

As I walked, I wondered about her, about her life in Saffron City and how she left it for being on the road, for no other reason than the boredom of being coddled by her parents. _Would I give this up for a life like hers?_ It was a hard question. On the one hand, I was becoming accustomed to the thrill of training and battling and it no longer seemed as dangerous as it had when my journey started. On the other hand, some safety and security for once would really not go amiss. And I don't think I could ever see my team as _just_ pets.

The captain's quarters were behind a simple wooden door with a white life preserver surrounding the window into the room. I knocked twice, and the door opened, revealing the captain himself; a tall, dark-haired man with decorated white uniform and blue naval cap. I don't know why but for some reason I was expecting a pirate, complete with eye patch and gruff sea jargon. The captain had neither; he was clean shaven, spoke cleanly and had both eyes intact. It was disappointing, but only a little.

"Red! How excellent it is to meet you. Welcome aboard the S.S. Anne!" The captain enthusiastically threw his hands up, gesturing to the entire ship. "My name is Captain Smith. Thank you so much for accepting my invitation. Will your companion be joining us?"

"Hopefully. We split up when we boarded. I don't exactly know where she is." The captain nodded, showing his understanding, then ushered me into the room and closed the door. He offered to pour me a drink, which I accepted gratefully, as the last gauntlet of battles I had left me rather parched. I took a seat in the roomy decorated office and allowed myself to relax.

"I assume you won't be staying aboard much longer, seeing as you have gyms to conquer." The captain took a seat opposite me with a small desk separating us.

"Yes sir, and I would sincerely appreciate any information you could give me about Lt. Surge." _Anything at all. _"I know almost nothing about him, aside from his specialization."

The captain gave a small smile, then his gaze dropped to the floor. "There's a lot I could tell you about Surge. We served together, in the armed forces. We saw a lot of each other during our training, but eventually we split up. He became a combat pilot, I became a naval officer." Captain Smith gestured to the medals lining the upper region of his uniform.

"Surge was a good man. He learned about the versatility of Electric type Pokémon in war from his uncle, who was the Gym Leader here before him. He was very crafty, used Electrodes to power his jet when engines gave out in a dogfight and stuff like that. Electric types have saved his life countless times on the battlefield. But he couldn't always return the favor and, well…"

There was a pause in the tale, and I felt uncomfortable prodding, so I waited until the captain regained his composure to continue.

"…Let's just say, Surge has seen a lot more than anyone ever should. Death is never easy. Doesn't matter whose."

The captain rose from his chair and poured himself a drink too, while I was nearly finished with mine.

"Coming home from the war didn't treat him too well. Before drafting, he was a sensitive and mild guy. War hardened him. His experiences in battle taught him that mercy was weakness, and that's been his creed since."

I listened to the story, terrified of what I was hearing. _If Surge was as ruthless and resourceful as Captain Smith was making him out to be, how much of a chance do I have? He's probably seen my battle against Misty; he knows I won't go for the kill. He won't just be expecting it…_

_He'll be counting on it._

"Sir, what about the cave? Digglet's Cave?"

"What about it?" The captain didn't seem to see the relevance of my question.

"It's filled with Pokémon that are easily captured and have a powerful natural advantage to Surge's specialties. If he's as ruthless as you say, why wouldn't he…get rid of it?" Even though I was very thankful that the cave was still there and Andrea was on the team, I couldn't help but question the coincidence.

Smith gave a low chuckle, and finished off his drink. "A fair question, and Surge's response was pretty cryptic. He knows about the cave, it's been brought to his attention multiple times. His response has always been the same; 'Everyone could use a little hope'."

Every word out of the captain's mouth was making more and more apprehensive about facing Surge. "Another drink?" he asked, raising the bottle to eye level between us. This brought up another question.

"Captain, should you really be drinking so soon before leaving port?"

He lifted his hand in protest. "Relax, son, I don't actually steer the ship. I'm only here in case someone needs orders. The crew is pretty self-reliant."

_That makes sense, I guess…_

"What about the overgrowth on the gym? Why did Surge let it get that way if he's still here?"

Smith shrugged. "Beats me, but it sure looks ugly." I noticed the captain's speech was becoming less and less dignified as the level in the bottle dropped. "I can give you something for that though." Clumsily, he stood and stumbled to his desk at the rear of the room, pulling out a case similar to the one I carry my TMs in. The disc he pulled out looked different though…larger, and with white label on it, reading "01 Cut".

" 'Ere you are" he tossed the disc, which glided through air like a saucer before landing in my outstretched hand.

"Thanks." The captain's rapidly deteriorating demeanor was a little unsettling. Despite his reassurance, I was worried about the safety of the passengers. "What makes this TM special? Why is it labeled?"

" S'not a TM, son." Smith took another drink, this time directly from the neck of the bottle. His face turned a deep red, before letting out a light hiccough. " 'S called a Hidden Move. HM, for short. They're moves 'at were put in a different class than the other TMs because they're especially useful for navigating. There's not many, but they're worth 'aving. This one can help you clean up the gym." His explanation was occasionally interrupted by another hiccough.

"Thank you, Captain. I think I should get going. My companion hasn't arrived and the two of us need to leave before you disembark." I bowed politely, stowed the HM into my bag and left the room in a hurry, leaving the captain drowning his war memories with the contents of the bottle.

* * *

_2 days earlier_

"The readings are growing at a dramatic rate, sir. We haven't seen this kind of activity before."

The boss focused his eyes onto the monitor. This second source was proving to be very enigmatic. _First it moves toward the spot where we lost the creature, vanishes, then reappears several hours later. Now it's moving south. And here, directly under Saffron City, a massive energy spike. What _are_ you…_

"It certainly was a good idea of yours to recalibrate our satellites and track the signal underground. We never would have been able to track it or see this phenomenon if it weren't for that." It was the professor who was speaking. He was placed in charge of following _it_, and to figure out exactly what _it _is…

The boss had no comments to make.

"Just keep watching it, and I want hourly reports. Professor, if you do not identify what this source is _exactly_ and why it is behaving this way, I will demand a more…_direct_ observation. Do I make myself clear?"

The professor gulped. He had no idea what it was, but anything that was giving off energy levels matching those of the creature was not something he wanted to encounter alone underground.

"Crystal, sir."

* * *

_Present day  
_

"Attention passengers of the S.S. Anne. This is your first-mate speaking. We regret to inform you that we will be departing a little behind schedule, as the captain has fallen ill. We thank you for your patience, and invite you to treat yourself to Berry cups at the buffet, as our most sincere apologies. Thank you."

The intercom clicked and I couldn't help but smile. It was his own fault, the captain's "illness". He was probably vomiting over a trash can right now, having one of his crewmen rub his back. There wasn't any immediate danger of the ship leaving port now, but it would still help to find Caroline.

I had no idea where to start looking, so the next best idea was to just run around and search. I took a flight of stairs down to the deck below me to start my search there, and was greeted with the sight of the last thing I wanted to find.

_Gary_.

I picked out his distinctive crop of golden brown hair in the crowd. He was significantly taller than the surrounding people. Bile rose in my throat as I recalled the last time we met, on the bridge, with one of my team members bleeding to death and saved by a veritable miracle.

_He's going to want to fight me. If I can just sneak around without him seeing me…_

I raised my hand to bring down the visor of my cap over my eyes, but my palm met empty air. _Oh…right…_

Instead, I lowered my head and walked slowly through the crowd, in a circular motion around Gary, who I kept in constant sight. Of course, I should've known, after having your face on TV, it's impossible to go through a crowd without being recognized.

"Is that Red?"

"Yeah, it is! Where'd his cap go?"

"Look everyone, it's Red, from TV! The gym challenger!"

The crowd widened around me, leaving me nowhere to hide. The room filled with excited chatter and I, ashamed of believing that such a childish plan would work, straightened my back and faced them. Sure enough, there was Gary, at the front of the pack, staring at me with narrowed eyes. He entered the circle slowly, approaching me.

"So…Red. Made a name for yourself in the real world, huh? What does that make me, then, your good old friend from back home? Am I Blue now? Or Green?" His tone was derisive and purposefully mocking. Gary quickly silenced the crowd as every eye came to the pair of us. I wasn't going to cold shoulder him again this time.

"What do you want, Gary." I used his name on purpose, so the crowd wouldn't go giving him a misnomer that he picked for himself.

"A rematch. You embarrassed me last time and I want to show all these lovely folks that Red isn't really as much as they think he is."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "I _embarrassed_ you? Not a single person saw our match, and you would've left my team to die if I gave you the chance! You should certainly be ashamed of yourself, but I did not embarrass you."

"Semantics, Red." Gary raised the bottom of his shirt, revealing the arrangement of Pokéballs around his belt. _Still four. _"So what do you say to a battle? Same rules as last time."

"We both know you're not one for following rules, Gary. Remember the Zubat you and your rat left bleeding to death? I managed to save her, no thanks to you."

"Then bring her out." Gary clicked a ball from his belt and raised it. "Your move."

Every bone in my body was telling me to stand my ground and refuse to fight. But there was nowhere to go. We had an audience this time.

I popped open the ball I had subconsciously palmed. Buffy appeared, hooked feet planted into the wooden floor of the ship, fangs bared.

Gary was one for flair and threw his ball, where it cracked open at the top of its arch. The flash of light left behind a bipedal yellow reptilian creature with a large tail and pointed mustachioed snout, a pink star emblazoned on its forehead. The mutters from the crowd informed me it was a Kadabra; Gary's Abra had evolved.

A wave of dread came over me when I realized Gary was starting out with an advantage over me. He purposely coaxed out my Golbat so that he could land a quick knockout. _I won't let that happen._

We shouted at once.

"Buffy, Bite him!"

"Dali, Confusion!"

Luckily, Buffy was faster.

The dark blue body sped through the air, clamping its enormous jaws around Kadabra's shoulder. The speed of the attack left it disoriented, and the Confusion attack misfired, sending visible distortions through the air in all directions.

"Follow with Wing Attack!" Buffy withdrew her fangs from her foe's skin and made a quick loop around the room, returning only to slam him with her wing. Kadabra fell with a loud thud, a bruise forming over its star. Gary panicked and withdrew.

"Stronger than last time, isn't she." Buffy landed on my shoulder (she was surprisingly light for her size) and smirked at her victory. The crowd gave a polite applause which made Gary _very_ angry. He seized two Pokéballs from his waist and threw them both upward. The crowd backed up, giving more room to the arena which now needed to double in size to accommodate Gary's inferiority complex. It was all I could do to reflexively toss another one of my own into the fray.

As it stood, the matchup was now Buffy and Snare against Gary's Pidgeotto and his evolved Charmander, whose skin was a darker orange and a bony protrusion poked out of its head. Its claws and tail had both increased in size, and the flame at the tip burned fiercer.

_I hope this ship is flame-retardant._

"Gust, Ember, let's go!" Gary wasn't wasting time. I shouldn't either.

"Dodge what you can, Leech Seed and Supersonic, guys!" The training really paid off. Both of my Pokémon hit their targets perfectly. The advantage was in preparation; Buffy and Snare could fire off their attacks at a seconds' notice, while the other two could not. They were far too slow to keep up. A few commands later, Gary's duo were seeded, confused and poisoned. I was finding myself almost disappointed that the battle wasn't going to last longer for our adoring audience.

"End this, go Raticate!" Gary didn't even recall his other two Pokémon. It would take too much time, and he needed his revenge immediately. Raticate appeared and lunged towards my team, aiming for Buffy in particular, _just like last time_. Luckily, Buffy took to the air, flapping just out of reach.

"Don't attack. I know who wants to settle the score with you."

I pulled Snare and Buffy back and released Remy, virtually identical to Gary's Raticate in every way. I remembered how the two tussled during Gary's last appearance, and Remy ended up hurting his paw as a result. This was payback.

"Get 'em, Remy." The two enormous rats snarled at each other, and attacked simultaneously. Their large tails whipped through the air, their hairy bodies rolling over the floor, occasionally colliding with the living walls of our arena, sending some members of the crowd backward in shrieks. The struggle continued…

…until something went wrong.

I saw it first; the bloody smears that the two rolling Pokémon left behind in their fight. The wounds that their massive teeth left on the others flesh. The two Raticates were literally tearing each other to shreds.

"Gary, help! Stop them, they're going to kill each other!" _I don't know what's going on. Remy knows not to be lethal._

The two of us ran to the Pokémon, trying to pull them apart. A vicious snap of jaws nearly took my fingers, and I let go in panic, falling to the ground. Gary was just as successful. _We can't stop them._ Gary hatched a new idea, pulling out a Pokéball and pointing into the fray to call his Raticate back. But just before he was able to do so.

_CRACK_

The sound of breaking neck.

And then another.

"NO!" Both of us yelled at once.

There was a frantic desperate squeaking as the two Raticates fell apart, onto their backs, struggling to breathe through the blood rapidly filling their lungs.

There was a scream from the crowd. Then another. Then several more. Everyone fled the site, running from the gruesome scene unfolding before them.

There was no way to tell which Raticate struck the fatal blow first or how, but the other retaliated and now both lay dying. Gary tried desperately to call his back into the Pokéball, but it wasn't working. _He's already dead._

"This is your fault!" He threw the Pokéball at the ground in rage, his Pokémon already heaving out its last breath. Remy was doing the same, and they both died within seconds of each other.

_No…_

It was childish to argue. It was wrong, and pointless, to argue. But I couldn't stop myself.

"My fault?" Somehow I found the will to move my legs again, which had locked in fear when the two Pokémon began to fight. Somehow, I still had the energy to scream at him. "You've been out to kill me and my Pokémon from the start! _You've been my enemy from the very beginning!"_

Gary looked shocked, as if I had just accused him of something unspeakable. Tears welled in his eyes, and a roar built in his throat. I could see his hands balling themselves into fists at his sides, and not a split second too soon. He swung at me, and I was on the ground, blood filling my mouth.

"I was your friend, Mike! I was your friend before all of this shit happened!"

_What is he talking about?..._

He delivered a swift and forceful kick to my gut, causing me to spew the blood that he drew from the first blow.

"How can you not remember!" He was yelling now, and the tears falling from his face landed in the pool of my blood.

Another kick, this time to the ribs.

And then…_I remembered._

_Gary and me, as children, playing together, while our mothers sat on the couch, laughing together while watching us._

_Professor Oak, showing me around the lab while his grandson followed, pointing out the gadgets and laughing along…with me._

"You were the _only_ friend I had, Mike! What happened to you!" The next kick broke my rib, and the taste of blood in my throat was beginning to burn.

_Everything I remember about you…is wrong._

Every memory I had of Gary up until that point was melting away to reveal_ what really happened._

_That first day, in Oak's office…Gary stood up to hug me when I came in. He was happy to see me. He was showing me the different starters, asking me which one I wanted so he can show me how neat it was._

_Our first battle…Gary was helping me to command Snare, to get his attention and obedience. There was no actual fight, there was no scar across Snare's stomach. _

_But…how…how could I have seen that if it didn't happen!_

"I've always been on your side, and you've become _my_ enemy!" I expected another kick, but he had turned. He collapsed onto the corpse of his fallen team member, sobbing.

"Gary…" I spit out the warm metallic liquid oozing in from under my gums and reached my hand out to him.

_Our meeting in Cerulean. Gary wanted a friendly battle between two pals, he had no intention of hurting me. It was me. _

_It was __**my**__ fault._

_**I**__ tried to attack him._

_Then, and here._

_He was right. He was my friend, but I was his enemy._

_How!_

"Gary…" The pain tearing through my body was robbing me of the strength to speak any louder than a whisper. But Gary was gone. His Raticate was gone. Both of the Pokémon that my team had immobilized were gone.

"Gary…I'm sorry…"

_A slumbering figure of a sleek gray body and a long purple tail, lying on cold black stone in a dark cave. A dim violet glow emerging from under its eyes. _

"I'm sorry, Gary…" but he wasn't there anymore.

_He's gone..._

* * *

_Present day  
_

"Sir, we have a serious problem. The signal has vanished again, we can't recover it."

_It's happened before, we can fix this._

"Direct all energy to the satellites. I want that signal back, NOW!"

"We tried, sir. The satellites can't pick it up. The signal is gone for good this time."

_No…this can't be…_

"Where did we lose it this time?" The boss stormed over to the monitor, trying to trace the path of the signal and make sense of its existence.

"Vermillion's harbor, sir. There was a sudden flair in activity, just like last time. Massive cerebral energies. Then it was gone. It's not underground this time, sir. Just gone."

"NO!" A large fist crashed through the monitor screen, instantly shattering it and the image of their only lead, disappearing. _He's not gone._

_We'll find him._

* * *

**_If you're asking yourself "WHADDAFUQ?", that means I succeeded.  
This was a long and hard (that's what she said) chapter to write. Hopefully it answers some old questions and raises some new ones for you.  
_**

**_Ex-1st person Flashbacks will be more common now, as I can't effectively tell the story anymore without them.  
_**

**_(Dali: After Salvador Dali, a surrealist painter best known for the painting of the melting clocks. He also had a wicked mustache. The melting clocks + mustache = Kadabra/Alakazam)_**

The next one is on its way! Keep reading and please leave reviews!  



	14. Recovery

Chapter 14: Recovery

Pain.

The first thing that came back was the pain.

A sharp pain that swelled with every breath I took then subsided to a dull ache when I exhaled.

I lowered my hand to my side, gently prodding the bruised flesh and feeling for the fracture that Gary left in my rib. The sudden pain scolded me for the applied pressure and I let my hand fall down onto the sheets.

_Sheets?_

I looked around. I wasn't on the Anne anymore; the room I was in now was definitely in a Pokémon Center. I looked out of the large windows and figured I was still in Vermillion City. The tall buildings and harbor were unmistakable, even in the late hours of the night. The bed beneath me was stark white and very soft.

"Wakey wakey, Snorlax". It was Caroline's voice, and nothing could've made the pain go away quite as effectively as her voice did just then. She was sitting at the foot of the bed, evidently just waking up herself. I didn't see her at first because, lying horizontally, my feet were covering the seat where she was sleeping.

I lifted my head from the pillow and parted my feet in order to look at her. Her hair had fallen flat and frizzy out of its usual wave, and her skin had lost its typical glow. There were dark circles under her reddened eyes, which were framed by heavy lids. She must not have slept at all since the Anne…I wasn't used to seeing her look so lifeless, and she must've noticed my gaze.

"No, don't look at me." She covered her face with her hands. Her voice sounded tired too. "I look awful."

"You look ten times better than I do, I bet." My voice was hoarse and I wondered how long it's been since I last used it, which prompted my next question. "How long have I been out?"

"Almost two days. You woke up a couple times already, slipping in and out of consciousness." She stood from the chair and pulled it over to the side of the bed, so we didn't have to talk through between my feet.

"So what did I miss?" She shook her head, demonstrating rather clearly that we weren't going to talk about it yet. "No no, eat first, talk later" she said, pulling a tray of food off the stand by the bed which I had somehow overlooked until just now. _I didn't realize how hungry I am. _The meal consisted of a slab of meat, some bread, and various berries presumably from around the nearby routes. It was cold, but I was grateful that there was any food at all.

"Here, eat with me, and then you can tell me what happened while I was out." She agreed, and we finished off the modest meal within minutes in almost complete silence. When the last bite was gone, Caroline felt apprehensive about where to start. I sat up a little straighter in the bed and waited for her to gather her bearings.

"Well…what exactly do you want to know?" I could tell there was something that she wanted to avoid mentioning, but I didn't want to press it. I needed a general idea first before collecting details.

"Everything. What happened to Gary? What happened to us after we got off the Anne? Where were you the whole time on board? Didn't you hear the captain inviting us to eat with him?"

"Me?" She seemed confused as to why I was asking about her whereabouts, but it was important to me. _I was worried about her._

"I went to the dining hall first, and I got myself into a few battles, which weren't really bad. When the captain invited us, I was on the other side of the ship, and I was on my way over when…you know…" Her voice trailed away, nervously avoiding mention of the incident that put me in my current condition. I noticed her eyes fall to the ugly welt on my side, and I suddenly felt self-conscious of how the injury made me look.

"Did you see him? Gary, when he left?"

She shook her head. "No, he must've gone a different direction. I saw him later, on TV when they…" but she stopped midsentence. She had just mentioned what it was she was trying to avoid earlier.

"It was on TV!" I couldn't believe it. _How? There was no one there with a camera!_

Caroline suddenly looked sad again. "Not all of it!" She tried to rectify the situation, as if it was her fault somehow.

"But the worst of it, right?" I could feel the lump in my throat rising as I remembered the vicious struggle that unfolded between the two Raticate, and how both paid the ultimate price for it. _Remy is gone._

_And it's my fault. _I closed my eyes to hold in the burning sensation forming behind them. I failed Remy as a trainer, I used him far too often for vengeance. When that Spearow killed Icarus, it was Remy who exacted my revenge, and he would've again when I met Gary in Cerulean if he hadn't run way. It was my fault Remy became so recklessly vicious. _I failed him._

I felt the reassuring weight of Caroline's hand on my shoulder, and then, she hugged me. It was the first time I felt what it was like to be held by her, and by the slight trembling in her grip, I felt that she was resisting her sobs, just like me. Her body felt soft and warm and as I returned her hug, my head settled on her shoulder where, despite its frazzled appearance, the smell of her hair offered me comfort. Once again, I'd been reminded in the worst way possible what the stakes of my journey were, and the tender aching flesh at my side served to add my own mortality to the gamble.

As we waited for the sun to rise, Caroline told to me the important events after the battle with Gary, such as how she was the first to find me in my crumpled state on her way to the captain's quarters, and how an emergency medical team arrived minutes later in response to her calls. She had been fighting off reporters who were desperately trying to get to me in my bed for the last two days, minimizing what they would be able to convey about me. Remy's body had been given to the Pokémon Center just as Icarus had been before him, and I wondered if Gary would do the same with his fallen team member…and I still couldn't process the immense guilt and shame that his last words to me kept fresh in my head.

As for what was broadcast? Well, it wasn't good. Caroline (who continued to insist that I call her Leaf, as the reporters were really only one wall away from us) tried to give me some direct quotes of what was said. "Red seems to have brought some emotional baggage with him on his journey as well" she paraphrased, unable to remember the exact wording. "His old childhood drama has followed him to the S.S. Anne today, where he had an exciting showdown with a rival of his, who has given himself the moniker Blue, in order to contrast his opponent." Leaf ended her recitation there. _That's all I needed to hear anyway._

"So my image is ruined, huh?" Not that I particularly cared. I realized I didn't need the support of the populace to succeed. To my surprise, she shook her head.

"Not at all, actually. It was really polarizing, but a lot of people understand that what happened was a freak accident, and they still subscribe to you. But Mike?" she was about to ask the question that had been pressing on her mind since she found me with a fractured rib: "What happened? You know…after?"

I knew she would ask sooner or later. I'd been wondering myself since I woke up.

"It's really weird, but…apparently, Gary isn't the bad guy." I could see the confusion distort her face, raising her eyebrows and dropping her jaw. "He said that we were friends, before. That everything I remembered about him was wrong." I couldn't quite understand why it was, but I knew it was true. Whenever I closed my eyes, I would be greeted with rapid flashes of my childhood where Gary and I would play and laugh and talk about becoming powerful trainers together. The good news was, part of my amnesia had been defeated. The bad news was, something else had caused me to view my friend as an antagonist.

"Mike, that…that doesn't make any sense."

_I was afraid of that._

"I mean, you can't remember anything from before your journey started, but your memories since then have been altered? How is that even possible?"

I ignored her question, because it had brought up a very alarming thought. _What if Gary isn't the only person I remember incorrectly._

I threw the blankets off my legs and swung them over the side and into my shoes in one swift motion. The pain in my side didn't stifle me, and Caroline jumped from the suddenness of my movement. "Where are you going? You're hurt, you need to rest!" She frantically tried to pull me back onto the bed but I shook her off.

"I need to get to the PC and call Oak. I need to know which things I remember that actually happened, and which are made up." I didn't like sounding so fierce with her, but the combination of my pain and confusion were agitating me. _How can I be calm when I have no idea what's real in my own head?_

With one hand covering the injury beneath my bruise, I stumbled out of the room towards the lobby. My gait was made awkward by the fracture, but it also served to make me more determined as I approached the PC. I could hear Caroline getting up to follow me, but I didn't slow down.

The lobby was dark and completely empty, so I continued undeterred toward the computer in the corner, booting it up with a quick strike to the power button. In seconds, the phone in Professor Oak's lab was ringing. The squeaking of Caroline's sneakers on the smooth floor grew louder as she entered the room shortly after me, making her way over to join me in front of the glowing monitor.

"You're calling his lab? Do you really think he'll be there so late at night?" She had a point.

Just as I was about to end the call and try again at his home, voices began to grow in the hall.

"The door is open. Maybe we can sneak over and listen in?"

"Hey, there's nobody in here! Red is awake, everyone!"

There were several voices, and twice as many feet now pounding down the hall towards us.

"Ah shit, it's them." A click later, Tank was on the floor between us but he looked…different, somehow. Most noticeably was a change in his size, a much larger and bushier tail, and two pointed ears, almost like wings, on the sides of his head.

"Tank evolved!" I felt stupid for pointing out the obvious in such a pressuring situation, and Caroline smacked her forehead at my outburst.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to mention it. It didn't seem so important at the time but…yeah, Tank is a Wartortle now!" Tank raised a paw to the back of his head and looked down at the floor modestly denying his obvious transformation.

"That's awesome! Good job, buddy." The Wartortle gave a big goofy grin before following his trainer back the way she came to stop the now-awake reporters from getting to me before I had a chance to speak to the professor. I was glad that evolving and become more powerful didn't change a Pokémon's personality; Tank was still the same clumsy lovable goofball he was as a Squirtle.

"Stop!" I heard her yell, and the stampede ceased almost immediately. I even heard a grumble of "Oh jeez, not her again".

"Yeah it's me" she continued. I had to admit, her dedication to 'protecting' me was immensely appreciated. "All of you are going to wait patiently for Red to finish up his personal phone call or nobody is getting a story. Anyone who has a problem with that better go get a towel." Tank gave a conclusive grunt to punctuate her statement.

_Damn. She's good._

"Hello?" My head whipped around back to the monitor, and I saw Professor Oak, wide awake and in his starched lab coat. I guess he was still in the lab after all…

"Professor! Why are you at the lab so late? I was just about to call you at home."

Oak smiled. "Good to hear from you, Red! I was just getting started on a new research project. I can't sleep if I have a good idea rattling in this old head." He knocked his knuckles lightly on his balding scalp for emphasis. "What can I do for you?"

His warm reception to my call must've meant he didn't know about what happened between me and Gary on the S.S. Anne. Which made me curious…

"I have a few urgent questions, actually. First, has Gary called you at all since we left?" I don't know why I asked the least important question first. Maybe because I didn't want to scare off the professor with my story whose facts bordered on impossible.

Oak's smile flickered a little before he let it fall completely. "No, no he hasn't…That's alright, I'm not worried. Gary's a tough cookie, I'm sure he's perfectly fine right now. You of all people should know he's not really one to be concerned about. Although I would really appreciate it if he called once in a while…" There was just a small hint of sadness in his voice, and I mentally prepared myself for what I was about to tell him.

I took a deep breath, then swallowed. "Professor, did something happen to me the day before I got my first Pokémon from you?"

There was silence. A confused silence. "You mean you don't remember?"

_Not a thing._

The professor shook his head to himself, as if explaining to me exactly what had happened was painful. "You had a fit. Something happened, I don't know what, and you fell unconscious in your room. Your mother found you flat on your back, by your bed, and she called me to take a look at you. There was absolutely no external damage, but you were completely unresponsive. We didn't even want to lift you off the ground in case it aggravated your condition. I stored a potion for you in the computer so you could use it when you woke up; there was an urgent news conference I had to attend. Something about a lab accident in…I hardly even remember, it wasn't important. The morning you woke up, your mother was still in shock, and you came out of your house seemingly dazed and confused. When you tried to go into the tall grass on your own, I pulled you back, and that's when you unwittingly revealed to me that you had amnesia. You didn't know who I was or where you were and I wish I knew what had happened to you."

Oak had reached the part of the story that I was beginning to remember on my own. Everything was coming together. My mom's solitary position at the dinner table, the potion in the PC, my encounter with the professor, everything.

"What about my bag? It was on the staircase when I woke up, with my ID on it and everything." By this point, I needed every detail. I needed to know exactly what happened and when and why.

"We put that there for you. You were supposed to start your journey as soon as you woke up, providing you were feeling healthy of course. I chose to keep you around a week or so to refresh you on everything you had forgotten…and my goodness, did you forget." The professor gave a deep sigh. "It was like you were a whole new person."

"What about Gary? What happened when we were in your office that morning?"

"Nothing particularly unusual. You came in, he stood up to greet you, ask you how you were feeling. You seemed to reject his question, which he understood to mean that you needed some space and weren't quite feeling yourself. After all, that's what friends do, right? They're there for you when you need them to be, and back up a little when you don't. Gary tried to be as calm as possible about it, but he was very worried about you. Why are you asking me all this anyway?" The confusion was still detectable in the professor's voice, and this time it was my turn to explain.

I told him everything. How I felt when I woke up, how all of the events he had just narrated to me were perceived and stored in my head, and most importantly, how from the very start, I thought that Gary was being an ass, when it was really me. Oak was troubled by the revelation.

"Professor, how do I know what's real at all anymore? How do I know that my memories of you are correct? How can I try to comprehend anything if I don't know that it isn't all in my head?" The crisis was becoming critical for me and I struggled to retain my composure in front of the monitor.

"Well, Mike, what did I have for breakfast this morning?"

The question seemed stupid.

"How am I supposed to know that? What does that even have to do with anything?" I was beginning to get frustrated with the professor's lack of understanding how important this was to me.

"You aren't supposed to know that, because it happened to me." Oak indicated to himself with his thumb. "If this was all in your head, then no one else would have experiences you wouldn't know about. If you were imagining this, you would know what you were imagining. If I can know something you don't that happened to me, doesn't that prove that I'm real?"

I wasn't in the mood for a philosophical debate, but Oak had a point, and it settled me down just enough to continue our conversation.

"Professor, I think I attacked Gary. I ran into him in Cerulean City and we had a battle and I thought it was him who attacked me but it seems now that maybe I was the one who attacked him, and then I ran into him again a couple days ago on the S.S. Anne and we had another battle and everybody saw it and…" I couldn't stop myself. Everything was coming out in one streaming sentence and I couldn't contain it. "…and our Raticates killed each other. He was crushed and he kicked me here" I indicated to my fractured rib "but I deserved it. I deserve the worst."

As perturbed as Oak was feeling right now, he tried not to show it. "You didn't know what you were doing, let alone what you were seeing. You can't be blamed for how things around you have been altered. I just hope that you can explain this…_incident_ to him when you meet again. He's your best friend, you should try to keep it that way." There was strain in his voice as he tried to keep calm, and I realized he was right. Whatever bizarre circumstances had occurred before, they needed to be rectified. _Next time Gary and I meet, I'm setting things straight._

"Professor, I just have one more question. How do you know that I'm not still being…you know, affected?"

It had been a while in our conversation since Oak smiled, but it happened again, as he said "I can tell because you're talking about Gary as if you had known him for more than just a few weeks. Good luck, Red." He gave a curt nod, then the call ended.

* * *

Several hours later, I was back in the bed where I woke up. Leaf had managed to fend off the reporters long enough for me to finish my conversation with the professor, but then they descended upon me like a swarm of Beedrill, each asking their own questions and trying to get my face into the shots of their camera. I was able to get away by answering the questions minimally and without interest, as most of them were about things I didn't want to comment on anyway, mostly my run-in with Gary on the Anne. One reporter, however, asked a question that reminded me of everything from before then.

"Mr. Red, when will you be commencing your challenge on Lt. Surge, the Vermillion Gym Leader?"

_That's right _I thought. _The Gym Challenge._

"Tomorrow" I said. There was an impressed 'ooh' from the crowd, and most of the questions subsided there.

Now I was lying in my recovery bed, with Leaf lying next to me, fast asleep, evidently exhausted from all the weight she had to pull while I was unconscious. Her hair covered the pillow entirely, spilling over onto the bed itself, and her chest slowly swelled and depressed with every breath. To my surprise, I had my arm around her sleeping form. I tried to convince myself that it was a protective gesture, but I knew it wasn't. It was an affectionate one, and it was really the only one that felt right anymore…

I lay awake, my racing thoughts preventing me from sleep, mulling over the recent conversation with Oak to the gym challenge I set for myself the following morning. _I'm an idiot. I should've waited until I recovered until going up against Surge. _I gave a sigh. _Too late now. I just hope I'm ready._

As I imagined what the battle would look like, I had to wonder where my interest and aptitude for Pokémon started in the first place. While I was definitely no longer suffering from my amnesia, there were things my memory still needed to be jogged with. _Like Mom. I don't remember very much about what my life with her was like._

I decided I needed to make another call.

Gently, I removed my arm from around Leaf's shoulders and rose from the bed. With a slower pace, I was able to walk back to the PC in the lobby with a more regular stride. While it was still dark and empty, the lobby seemed more desolate without the excitement of Leaf, Tank and the reporters milling around. The PC was still booted up from my last call, so with the press of a few buttons, the computer sent another call, this time to my mother. It took several rings, but she finally answered.

"Hello? Who is this?" Her voice was groggy and slow, with lots of slurred words.

_Oh no, I woke her up._

"Sorry!" I immediately felt embarrassed for calling at such a rude time, but I was still glad that she picked up.

"Honey, is that you? It's so good to hear you! How is everything?" Her voice brightened at the sound of mine, but there were still traces of her recently disturbed sleep.

_How is everything. _I didn't want to get into it now. Reliving the conversation with Oak didn't seem appealing to me at the moment. Instead I just went straight for my own question.

"Mom, do you think you could tell me about my…childhood?" The question sounded rather strange, I had to admit.

There was a brief pause followed by "Oh, is this about your amnesia, honey? How're you feeling?"

"I'm feeling fine" I said, ignoring the bruise on my side that suggested otherwise. "I just don't remember very much from when I was younger"

"I can tell you anything you want me to" she sounded rather excited to be taking the trip down memory lane with me, but it seems she didn't know where to start. "Um…is there anything…specific?"

I thought for a moment, and remembered the picture of the main in the suit from the cabinet in the brief time I remember being in my own house. "How about Dad?"

The prompt seemed to surprise her. "Oh! Well…he was around a lot when you were younger. He saw a lot of potential in you to be a trainer and he taught you the things you would need to know before going out on your own. He was a really great man, very smart and very fun. He left us with enough money so that I could take care of you after he left, and…"

As she spoke, I closed my eyes and allowed the flashes of memory to come back to me.

_Dad and Oak talking about how good of a trainer I'll be while I was stumbling around the living room, trying to master the art of walking. _

_Helping Mom in the kitchen when I was just big enough for my nose to stick out over the sink, when Dad came home from work to greet both of us with a smile._

_Dad showing me some basics about Pokémon, demonstrating with one of his own, a four-legged purple spiked creature which I repeatedly tried to pet. "Careful son" he'd say, grabbing my hand. "Nidorino is pretty poisonous. If you want to pet him, do it on his belly, don't touch his points."_

_Dad and I fishing on the docks at the south of town, only ever catching wildly flailing Magikarp which we would throw back. _

_Mom and I sitting at the dinner table, alone, after Dad unexpectedly left. She hugged me and said "I promise I won't ever leave you like he did"_

_The years of resentment for the father who abandoned me._

_The assured safety of my mother, always around whenever I needed her._

_Especially now._

I had stopped listening to her anecdotes, which had deviated rather far from my father and more about stupid things Gary and I did that got us into trouble, but I was still reveling in all my reacquired memories, and I felt a single tear building up at the corner of my eye. With a blink, I released it and let it fall to the floor before I interrupted my mom's story.

"Thank you, Mom. For everything."

She stopped and I saw her smile. "You're welcome, honey. I love you very much and don't you ever forget it."

This time it was her tear that I saw leave her eye, and I responded. "I love you too, Mom."

* * *

**I am very sorry that I haven't been updating recently. I needed to take some time to focus on my school work/exams and on my new job. But now that I just finished my exams, I have more time to write, so I'll be updating regularly from here on out. Thanks for your patience, everyone!**

**Also, I finished the actual Nuzlocke on my game (and yes, it was successful) so I have a very good idea of the direction this story will be taking now. I hope you guys like the chapter. It's not my best, but it was a little rushed to get it up here.  
**

**Thanks again for your patience, and keep reading! Any feedback is greatly appreciated.  
**


	15. Warzone, Part 1

Chapter 15: Warzone, Part 1

"Looks like it'll have to be you"

I lifted the newly-appeared Pokéball belonging to Arnold to eye level, and then clicked it into place at my belt, in the slot where Remy's ball used to be. I gave a sigh. Arnold would have to be beefed up a bit before he would be up to speed with the rest of the group, but that would have to wait until later.

I have a gym battle today.

"You should wait" I heard Leaf say from behind me. We were still in the lobby in the Pokémon Center, which had now filled with the dusty orange light of the rising sun. Leaf's face, illuminated by the morning glow, had regained its color after a night of uninterrupted sleep. Though she still looked tired and worried, she at least looked healthy.

"You're still injured" she said. Almost as if on cue, the pain in my side swelled, forcing me to cover the area with my hand. After a few seconds, the pain subsided, as if the wound itself were breathing.

I held my gaze with Leaf as I let my hand return to my side, brushing past the cool metallic surfaces of the Pokéballs decorating my belt. "I'll be alright. I have you after all, don't I?" My comment seemed to bury her worries for the time being, and she even graced me with a smile.

To be honest, I _was_ worried. Since Professor Oak revealed to me the details of my bizarre condition, I couldn't trust my senses or experiences anymore. That combined with the bothersome injury I sustained from my encounter with Gary put me in a very vulnerable state of mind. But I couldn't let Leaf know that…

"Well, we should go then. Surge knows you're on your way." Leaf lifted her pack and my own over her shoulders, refusing to let me carry any extra weight while I was in pain. For that, I was grateful. I gave her a nod, and we departed the center.

I knew the path to the gym by now. We'd been in Vermillion far longer than in any other city, and ended up learning its geography rather well. Leaf and I headed for the harbor. Her breathing was heavier, bearing the extra weight of my bag on her back. By contrast, I limited myself to shallow breaths so as not to aggravate my fractured rib.

"What the hell do you carry in here! Geodudes?" She let the bag fall down to the ground and ripped it open, removing from it some of the heavier items that I had been stockpiling, including the fossil we had found back at Mt. Moon. She raised the smooth stone shell between us. "Have you seriously been carrying this around the whole time?" I grinned sheepishly because I knew she was right. I never took the time to empty my bag of some of its less useful contents which made the pack itself much more burdensome, not to mention finding those items I did need in a desperate moment unnecessarily difficult.

"I'm going to clean this out. It's such a mess." She restuffed the bag and turned to head back to the Pokémon Center. "Are you going to be ok?"

"I will, promise." I said back to her. "Meet me at the gym, alright?" She nodded in agreement, then trudged back toward the Center. I continued my descent to the waterfront and allowed my thoughts to turn to the upcoming battle.

_I can't trust my senses. I can't trust my memories. I can't trust my body. I'm going to have to trust my team._

My current roster consisted of Saphira, Aporia, Buffy, Arnold, Andrea and Snare, though I would only be using the latter two in my battle. Andrea had a natural advantage against Surge's Electric types, and Snare was easily the most powerful and adept member of my team. Arnold was far too new to be used and the rest had Types that wouldn't stand a chance against a bug zapper.

The rest of the walk went by quickly, as I spent most of it imagining the details of the upcoming match. _What does Surge look like? What kind of arena will we be battling in? What kind of Pokémon will he use? _

_Most importantly, would I win? _

As the roof of the gym rose in front of me, blanketed with untamed plant life and looming over the sparkling waters of the harbor, my thoughts turned to Gary, as they frequently did. Would he ever forgive me for what I've done? _He has to_. Especially since what I've done wasn't my fault. As my thoughts churned, my eyes scoured the gym, tracing individual vines that twisted up its walls, when suddenly I remembered…

_The HM! I need to teach someone how to Cut the vines before I can go in. _And as luck would have it, the case with the HM was in my bag…_which is with Leaf, back at the Center._ I hoped that she would realize that I needed the case and would bring it back. In the meantime, I could only wait.

My hand lowered itself to the Pokéball on my belt, and opened the one containing Andrea. The stream of light from the ball rocketed into the ground, kicking up gravel as the smooth brown head of my Diglett rose out of the earth. "We have to wait for Leaf to come back before we can go in. I know you're ready, but there's no reason we can't warm up a little, right?" Andrea squeaked in delight, then narrowed her eyebrows in focus.

"Alright then, let's see a Magnitude. The strongest one you got!"

* * *

It wasn't long before Leaf came back, but Andrea and I did quite a number on the ground in front of the gym. Andrea's movements left shallow trenches etched in the dirt and her attacks left larger cracks in other random spots. Leaf cleared the scarred earth in a few bounding steps, both bags, now considerably lighter, bouncing lightly over her shoulders. She plopped herself down onto the ground next to me, and smiled, surveying the evidence of my latest training session.

"Somebody recognized me while I was running back. They told me to pass on some good luck to you before your match." She now turned her head to face me, her smile unwavering. "How are you feeling?" she asked, surveying the spot where my fractured rib was.

"Absolutely." I watched Andrea run (if that's even the correct word to use) smaller circles in the dirt and felt confident in her strength. "The problem is how we get in. You didn't happen to leave the TM case behind, did you?"

"Nope, it's right here!" Leaf pulled my bag off her shoulder, unzipped it and rummaged inside. She soon produced the cylindrical yellow case with the assortment of colored discs inside. "You need the one for Cut, right?" The case opened, and Leaf's dexterous fingers scrolled through the few TMs that we already had. "Here it is!"

I examined the disc she pulled out. It was white, with a small label near the rim reading "HM01: Cut" in thin black letters. _How the hell do I use this?_

"You can just put that thing away" said a gruff, male voice from behind the two of us.

The unexpected arrival of another person threw Leaf, myself and Andrea off guard, with the latter quickly submerging her rounded head in the ground with a squeak of fright. I whipped my body around with enough force to send a sharp pain shooting through my side. A flash of concern appeared on Leaf's face, but her gaze was trained on the man who had spoken to us.

He was wearing a black and green camouflage outfit which betrayed its name against the dull orange color of the sky above the harbor behind him. Large muscular arms were visible under his sleeves and crossed over his chest. The imposing physique matched the thick tendons under the skin of his neck. His eyes were covered with sunglasses, and his yellow hair was short and spiked. A pair of dog tags hung from his neck and glinted in the light of the rising sun, but I could just barely make out the etching of a lightning bolt on one of them.

"You're Lieutenant Surge" I said, rising from ground with my hand over my injury. "My name is Red, and I'm here to ch-"

"Stuff it, kid. I know who you are and why you're here." Surge walked toward us, his black boots kicking up dust. I instinctively took a step back, not taking my eyes off him. Everything I had heard about the man standing before me was negative and hostile, and his appearance now did nothing to improve the reputation that preceded him.

Surge continued his advance, but walked right by me and Leaf, marching straight towards the doors of the gym. It was only then that Leaf rose to her feet as well, keeping her eyes trained on Surge the whole time. I looked around just a little, to find where Andrea was, but the little Diglett was probably still somewhere underground. There was absolute silence.

Surge reached the doors of his gym, and inhaled deeply. He muttered something under his breath, something that neither I nor Leaf could understand. Then he turned on the spot and faced us.

"Here's what's gonna happen, kid. I'll take you inside, and we'll battle. I've seen you fight on TV, and it's pathetic. You're hesitant and merciful and I'm going to kick your ass for it. Those other two?" I knew he meant Brock and Misty. "They're no more Gym Leaders than you are Kanto Champion. You think you're hot shit for beating them, but I'm going to give you a wake-up call."

With that, Surge pounded with his fist on the metallic wall of the Gym. Immediately, a loud whirring started up inside of the building and the doors slid open with enough force to tear the vines around them instantly. The whirring diminished to a low hum as Surge turned once again and marched into the Gym.

Leaf and I exchanged glances, and Andrea poked her head out of the ground between us, looking up at me. All of my confidence and resolve from just a few minutes ago was gone. If Surge really is everything that he has been made out to be…_then we're in for quite a battle._

* * *

"Gentleman, what are the three essential components of a successful operation?"

The man in the suit was standing in front of his desk before a small assembly of his subordinates. His hands crossed over his chest as he awaited an answer. The others in the room turned to each other and muttered, confused about where this meeting was headed. Team Rocket grunts never were that smart.

A professor in a white coat standing near the front of the group, the same who was put in charge of identifying the rogue signal before it vanished, nervously guessed. "An objective?" he asked hesitantly, unsure of whether the boss before him had even heard his answer.

"Correct, professor. A mission without an objective is by definition a pointless endeavor. But we already have an objective; to recover what we've lost." The boss seemed genuinely pleased at the response, and the balding professor gave a weak smile, relieved at his usefulness. "What else?" continued the man in the suit.

A young man at the side of the room answered, loudly and formally. "Sir! A successful operation of any kind requires equipment tailored specifically toward the completion of said operation, sir!" He stood tall, staring at a nondescript point at the wall behind his superior.

The boss chuckled. "You're not in the army, son. A very good answer, however. We'll shorten that to 'resources'. Less of a mouthful that way."

"Sir, yes sir!" The grunt seemed to not fully process the boss's comment about not being in the army, and quickly realized his mistake. His face flushed in embarrassment, his shoulders sagged and his eyes dropped to the floor.

"And what are we missing? If we have our objective and our resources, what remains?" The answer didn't come so quickly this time, but he anticipated correctly its source.

"Information" answered a woman close to the middle of the room. She was no professor and certainly no grunt of Team Rocket's. Just a secretary, but an intelligent one. The man in the suit guessed that she only knew the answer because she was already informed of the plan to be set into motion.

The boss gave a nod to confirm her answer then rose to his full height, relieving the desk of his weight. "Listen up, men. We have our objective, but not the resources or the information to complete it. We will need to acquire both. To that end, I am authorizing new undercover work on two fronts that will help us in our ultimate goal."

Muttering spread throughout the room, but quickly ceased when the boss picked up from his desk to files and held one in each hand. "In my right hand are schematics, blueprints, schedules and personal documents withdrawn directly from Silph Co." He handed the file to a grunt standing closest to him at the front of the room. "We will be using these to get some rather useful items directly from their research divisions…"

"But before that, in my left hand" he continued, "is information regarding the whereabouts of a man known as Mr. Fuji. He is a resident of Lavender Town and considered a widely successful spiritual guru for human and Pokemon alike. Though it is not in my nature to consider men like him useful, I am finding myself in a rather desperate situation." He handed off the file to another grunt, standing beside the one now handling the documents from Silph Co. "Please see to it that Mr. Fuji becomes a personal guest of mine, using whatever means necessary."

For the first time, there was absolute silence in the room. No one was particularly concerned about the guru, but everybody realized that an infiltration on Silph Co. is the boldest move the Rocket organization has ever considered committing. The boss truly _was_ getting desperate…

"Dismissed."

* * *

Surge clapped his hands once, and I was immediately blinded. The large room filled with piercing light as the blinds on the roof lifted, breaking through the ancient vines engulfing them and allowing the sun's presence inside. For the third time, I found myself in a large arena, but this one was astounding, a truly mechanical marvel. The floor was composed of reflective tiles that could raise, lower and tilt in any direction to create a dynamic field and whirring generators along the walls and under the floor kept the blinking lights on the ceilings alive.

It all seemed a bit showy, but I understood the theme of the arenas at this point. Brock's gym was meant to resemble a cave so well that I forgot once or twice that I was actually above ground. Misty's made elaborate and fantastical use of the artistic beauty of water in all of its forms. And now Surge's arena, like the two before him, is a testament to the strength and pride of his specialty.

As with my battle against Misty, this match had an audience. Not as large, but substantial enough. Leaf sat with her Pokémon in the rows of seats behind me, and several reporters and cameramen occupied those behind Surge. I imagine the views would not be very good, but it wasn't my main concern.

"You ready, kid?" Surge was standing on his side of the arena now, facing me with his arms crossed, his dark boots planted firmly into the floor just outside of the perimeter of the tiles that would be our battleground. I nodded to Surge. I may not like him, but he was my opponent and a seemingly powerful one, so he at the least deserved my respect.

"The match is two on two, single knockout, capische?" Surge punctuated the remark by spitting at the floor between his feet. "Oh, and kid? I won't be holding back."

I froze. Surge noticed, and smiled at the fear he had put in me. We were playing with uneven stakes. If I lost, my team would perish, but Surge knew that I and my Pokémon would spare his if it came to that. Nevertheless, I couldn't refuse the terms now.

I nodded again.

As if on cue, the tile floor rippled from one end to the other and back, testing the field's responsiveness. Then Surge slowly lifted the bottom of his shirt to reveal his belt, holding two Pokéballs, one on either side. His right arm swung down to the belt, scooping the ball there into his palm and tossing it straight at me. I responded similarly, though Andrea's ball had been accumulating sweat in my palm for a few minutes now. Both balls cracked open a quarter of the way over the field. My Diglett appeared, half of her body hidden in the cracks that ran between the glittering tiles. Surge's Pokémon appeared in that same instant. It was at least three times Andrea's height and twice her width. The Pokémon resembled a rat standing on its hind legs, covered in a dull yellow fur and adorned on its head with large, black ears. The most extraordinary quality was its tail. Long, black and thin, with a jagged shape at the end, very much resembling the lightning bolt on Surge's dog tags.

Surge was scrutinizing my Diglett, just as I was scrutinizing his Pokémon. I saw a smile spread across his face and eventually, he broke into full-out laughter.

"What's so funny, Surge?" I asked. He wiped a tear from under his shades.

"I can't even tell you the last time I battled in this arena, but everybody always brings the same pipsqueaks to try and take me down, then and now." Surge pointed an incriminating finger at Andrea, who drooped her head in response. "You want to take a guess how many of those things I've killed? Scores! Hundreds, even!"

Well this was unexpected. I figured that Surge had defeated his fair share of Diglett's given their close proximity and natural advantage to his specialty, but what he was describing was practically a genocide. I didn't realize that Digletts were such a common enemy to him that he had perfected the strategies for their defeat.

Surge lowered his accusatory hand and removed his sunglasses with the other. His dark eyes revealed the same violent spirit that his reputation had foreshadowed.

"Alright then, since you're treating me to a complimentary game of Whack-a-Mole, I'll let you make the first move." He smirked again.

_Then I guess I should make this count_

* * *

__**Aw yeah, I'm back, bitches.  
**


	16. Warzone, Part 2

Chapter 16: Warzone, Part 2

It was in the instant that the bell sounded, the official start of our battle, that I realized a dreadful set of facts. I was in Surge's arena, a ruthless military man who had been observing my battle tactics. He had a Pokémon I knew nothing about, besides its typing, and I had a Pokémon he knew everything about, down to the exact methods of killing it. My match against my ruthless opponent had begun…_and Andrea has nothing to fight with._

The last realization was by far the most terrifying. In a room surrounded by purified metals and electrical circuitry, my Ground-type Diglett had nothing to conduct battle with. Usually, she would be practically immersed in hundreds of tons of her native element, her raw weapon. I was astounded at how something so critical and simple had escaped me until the moment when it was too late.

Luckily, I've always been a quick thinker.

"Andrea, dig! Dig as fast as you can and break through the floor!" The round brown head instantly vanished, obscured by the tiles of the field. I could hear her weaving through the foundation of the building, but was surprised to see that Surge had not retaliated at all. His Pokémon stood completely still, as did he. Surge even mimed a yawn.

_That bastard! He knew that would be my first move! He doesn't even care that I'm about to rip a hole in the floor of his gym, it's probably happened a thousand times already!_

I still wasn't clear on exactly why Surge was being so mockingly generous with his attack strategy, until I heard the gentle whirring of a camera lens zooming in on my stunned expression. I spotted the cameras and their operators behind him, and everything clicked.

_He's toying with me. He's going to let me do whatever I want, tease me with free headstarts and pacifism, then thrash me when he's had his fun to thrill his audience and put me in my place._

When Surge mocked looking at his watch (that cocky ass wasn't even wearing a watch…), I even realized that he knew all the thoughts going through my head at that moment. Surge was just too many steps ahead.

"Where's the challenge in this for you!" I yelled at him. I'd been growing angry with his condescending attitude and I was already disgusted with his reputation. "Why not just eliminate the cave instead of having to fight the same fight over and over and showing off to everybody how you're memorized it!"

He shrugged, smiling that I had pieced together my impending defeat. "I guess I'm just not a big fan of change. Isn't that right, Raichu?" His Pokémon gave the same smirk as its master.

I remembered the words of the Anne's captain, Stern. He said that Surge's response to that question in the past had been cryptic. That Surge had said…_something about hope…Surge said that everybody needed hope…_

_...only so they would be crushed when they came up against him._ _What a manipulative-_

My thoughts were interrupted by the resonant sound of cracking cement. Andrea had busted through the gym's foundations, giving us access to the earth beneath it.

"Andrea! Bring it up! Bring it all up, as much as you can!"

The floor trembled just a little as the spaces between the tiles began to fill with sand and dirt.

"Well, Raichu, I guess we're going up as well." Surge said it just loud enough for myself and the cameras to hear. In response, Raichu whipped its tail through the air, sending a white bolt of electricity into a generator near the top of the left wall. Instantly, the tiles of the floor raised themselves by several feet. Raichu stood atop them, staring down the long poles at the pit beneath him that had now completely filled with sand. Some of the sand was even overflowing out of the battle area. Andrea's head soon poked out of the soupy field she had made for herself, visibly more comfortable, but agitated at the effort it took to bring it about.

_At least now we can fight, even if Raichu does control the field_.

"Sand Attack!"

I still wasn't entirely sure how Diglett's could control the earth the way they do, but however they did it, it was quick and it was efficient. Before the echo of my command could stop reverberating through the hall, Andrea sent a stream of sand from directly in front of her high into the air, just marginally missing Raichu, who was hopping from platform to platform in an attempt to flank the little mole. Andrea saw this coming, and submerged herself again. Raichu wasn't fast enough to change direction and slipped off the tiles, falling to the sand pit below. Andrea resurfaced at about the middle of the field just when Raichu landed on both feet.

"I think we've given them enough of a headstart, Raichu."

_Oh, so NOW he wants to fight._

As concerned as I was that now there would be an actual battle, I smiled to myself. Surge was about to go on the offensive, which meant he'd be more prone to mistakes.

_It also means I'm getting to him…_

"Thunderbolt!"

Sparks jumped around the Raichu's fur as it gathered its charge, then in a flash, the accumulated charge sped down the length of its dark tail, as if it were some sort of wire, and fired out of the bolt-shaped tip. I was too busy watching the creature's attack that I didn't give Andrea any type of command. Luckily, the attack passed over Andrea's head, which was already in the process of submerging again.

"Magnitude, while it's still on the ground!"

Without surfacing, Andrea sent seismic waves through the arena, shifting the sand and knocking the Raichu off its feet. The electric rat simply stood back with no visible damage anywhere.

_Of course, the sand. It's too loose to respond to seismic shift. Magnitude just makes it slide around a little. We need harder earth to get a strong quake going. _

"Now give it a Shockwave!" Surge was getting upset at our resistance. He was starting to look bad for the cameras, and he couldn't have that.

The Raichu raised its tail, crackling with electricity, then plunged it into the ground. The tip buried itself in the sand, and Raichu released the charge. Almost immediately, the sand began to glow red-hot from the intense heat of the electricity coursing through the ground. There was nothing to be done. With Andrea buried, this attack certainly couldn't miss.

A loud squeak informed me that my Diglett had just been hit with the full force of an electric shockwave.

"No!"

The sand's glow began to dull, and I could feel the heat on my face as it dissipated into the air. I tried to contain my fury as I realized…_he killed her…_

"Well that's one down. Just don't tell me you have another Diglett for me to put down. I was hoping that you would be more interesting, trainer." Surge's spiteful tone did everything to bring me to attack him with my own fists, but something kept me rooted to my place. Instead, I spoke.

"How…can you kill, so easily…" I spoke slowly, and quietly. I said it again, but I don't know for whom. It wasn't for Leaf, sitting behind me, trying to contain the tears building behind her eyes. It wasn't for the reporters, already scribbling headlines for Red's first defeat at the hands of a gym leader. It wasn't even for Surge, because he heard me just fine the first time.

"How? Military, kid. All soldiers are like me. We train to follow orders. Do that long enough and, well…you may grow to enjoy what you're asked to do."

I felt sick. _What kind of an answer is that…_

"So you can kill, people and Pokémon alike, just because someone told you to do it enough times that now you can get some kind of sick pleasure from it?" I was practically shouting at him, but he continued to stand, unmoved, unbothered.

"It's not about pleasure. It's about survival. On the battlefield, you have to be willing to do whatever it takes if it means you get to see the sun one more time. It's with Pokémon like it is with people. You can't give mercy to the enemy; it just makes it easier to take you out. I've seen it, hundreds of times. I've seen my friends in uniform make the mistake of giving their enemies a hand instead of a bullet between the eyes, and those men never made it home."

I could swear that Surge's voice was beginning to break.

"It's not about what I like. I would've liked a life without any blood on my hands. But I got pulled into something I didn't ask for, and now I can't sleep at night because I know the things I did – the things I needed to do – to stay alive!"

There was dead silence.

And then, there was a squeak.

_Andrea?_

A small brown head poked its way out of the sand, followed by two beady black eyes and a bright red nose. Perfectly unharmed.

"No way…" For the first time, Surge's feet moved, unglued from the spot where he stood. He took a step back in disbelief. I heard excited chatter from the audience on his side, exclamations of "That's incredible!" and "Are you getting this?" barely reaching my ears.

I kneeled to pet my Pokémon, who had just inexplicably survived what should have been a fatal attack, and found a sharp but loose point on her usually smooth head. I picked it up and examined it, a clear and oddly shaped little rock with small black specks dotting its inside. _Odd…it looks almost like a piece of…_

…_glass!_

Not only did my Pokémon survive, unharmed, but she had given me a battle plan.

"I didn't want to have to do this, kid, but I'm not letting you win. Not today." Surge's rage had returned, once again masking the human being I got a brief glimpse of just a moment ago. He cracked his knuckles, and the battle proceeded.

In a whisper, and still kneeling by my Diglett, I said "Get it angry, but don't get hit." Andrea's eyes narrowed in focus, and I knew she understood the plan.

The commands of "Quick Attack!" and "Dig!" overlapped each other, and both Pokémon responded simultaneously. As Raichu covered the distance between itself and Andrea at a breakneck speed, the mole Pokémon vanished back into the sand. Raichu skidded to a halt, kicking up more of the sand, and turned, looking for its prey.

"You wanted to play Whack-a-Mole, Surge? You got it!"

Andrea popped out of the ground some distance away, then immediately disappeared again.

"Quick attack again!"

But Raichu wasn't quite quick enough. In the time it takes to run across the sand, Andrea simply needs to lower her head. Surge's frustration was making this obvious fact impossible to see. Eventually, he switched to a different tactic.

"Raichu, they're trying to wear us down. Thunderbolt instead, now!" I could hear the desperation in his voice and just behind him was excited chatter from the reporters.

I turned around to get a look at Leaf, who I don't think had said a single word the entire match. She tried to look concerned, but her expression betrayed her excitement. She knew there wasn't anything to worry about.

_We've got him right where we want him._

Raichu was now haphazardly firing bolts of electricity, hoping for the slightest bit of contact with Andrea, who continued to pop in and out of the sand in random places, clearly enjoying the fun of irritating her opponent. Not a single bolt hit its mark. Several came pretty close to the audiences on both sides of the field, and a few went up into the air, glancing off the tiles that were still removed from the floor. I looked over at Surge who was no so absolutely livid that he probably could've sent a bolt of electricity in my direction if he wanted to.

"RAICHU JUST FINISH IT" he shouted, absolutely enraged by my admittedly childish tactics. "Shockwave, now! The strongest you can!"

Surge's anger had defeated his judgment. He knew quite well that a Shockwave would do nothing to help him.

Nevertheless, Raichu charged an immense amount of power that the sparks in its fur were practically causing it to glow. The Raichu gave a growl and plunged its tail into the sand.

I crossed my fingers, hoping that my plan would work.

The sand surrounding Raichu's tail began to change colors, first red, then white as the massive electrical charges heated up the individual grains to ludicrous temperatures.

_Just like last time. _

When the glow subsided, there was silence as everybody in the room processed what had happened. A rough, medium sized rock of glass completely encased the lightning bolt tip of Raichu's tail. In confusion, Raichu tried to shake it off. Surge was dumbstruck, Leaf was cheering, and I…

…I was proud.

"What the hell did you do!" Surge was beginning to completely lose it.

"Lightning is incredibly hot; hot enough to even melt sand. I noticed it the first time you used the Shockwave attack, and I just needed to rile you up so you would discharge even more electricity. Raichu's tail is basically a lightningrod. When the bolt heated up the sand, and melted, then cooled just as fast and resolidified as an impure version of glass around his tail, basically taking away his only weapon."

I could see that the cameras behind Surge were now trained on me as I explained the little science experiment. Andrea, exhausted from her lengthy ruse, popped out of the ground between my feet, panting. I knelt down to give her a hug, and felt that her usually cool earthy skin was warm.

"You've done an amazing job. Take a good long rest." Andrea's ball sucked her back inside, and I rose back to my full height.

"What are you doing, bring it back out and finish it!" There was almost an edge of insanity to his voice now.

"No." _I have to remain calm. Everything is in the image now._

But my whole body was itching to kick Surge in the face for what he just said.

"Kill him! He lost, so kill him, or are you too _weak_ to do it!" Surge was spitting and shivering furiously.

"No Surge. You lost, not him." I looked at the Raichu, frantically beating its imprisoned tail against the soft ground in an attempt to break out. "I refuse to punish any creature for its master's shortcomings. You made a bad call and you know it. Your Pokémon was just following orders."

Surge could only stare at me, and let his humiliation hang in the air before getting sucked up by the cameras. I don't know if the broadcast was live, but sooner or later, Surge's failure would be witnessed by everybody in the region.

A low rumble came from his chest. Then he slowly, quietly, let out a single laugh. A short low burst. Then the laughter grew, in intensity and volume, until Surge was practically in hysterics.

"I've still got one Pokémon, Red! You want to take me down like this?! I'LL TAKE YOU OUT FIRST!"

My hand was already at my belt, ready for defense. Snare was out on the field and prepared to fight in a moment's notice. Surge was just a fraction of a second slower, and his Pokéball was soaring through the air by the time Snare's feet were firmly planted on the ground. The ball cracked open and released…_another Pokéball?_

The world seemed to go into slow motion. The red and white sphere continued to tumble through the air towards us in a graceful arc. Snare and I stared at it, confused by how a Pokéball could fit inside of another Pokéball.

Then I saw its eyes. A pair of angry, slanted eyes on the red half of the sphere. _It's definitely a Pokémon._

"Vine Whip!"

As usual, Snare was one step ahead of my commands. Like lightning, a vine extended from the bud on its back, continuing the arc of the creature in the air in a circle around us, and tossing it back at Surge without losing any momentum. I saw his eyes widen in panic as the sphere hurtled towards his face.

Then it exploded, and the world went dark.

…

Blurred shapes and muted sounds whirled around in my aching head. Black smoke stung my eyes and swirled around the room. The roar of fire was growing louder as my senses began to come back. Shapes began to merge and fix themselves, forming the destroyed columns that now littered the arena. The ground was blanketed in a fine dust of glass, presumably from the tiles once made up the ground. I was vaguely aware that someone was shaking me.

"We need to get out, wake up!" A forceful slap from Leaf's hand across my face brought the world back into focus.

I sat up, aggravating the fracture in my side again. _Damnit!_

"What happened!" I had to yell because the whooshing roar of the fire ravaging the room was far too loud.

"It blew up, the ball! Come on, we need to go!" Leaf's face was covered in a sheen of sweat, probably in combination from the heat and the panic.

My hands flew to my belt to make sure Snare was back. He was, and I leapt up before immediately doubling over again in pain. I noticed I was standing much farther back than where I was when the explosion happened. _The force must've sent me flying back…_

Leaf grabbed my arm and put it around her neck, then half-sprinted half-dragged me to the gym's exit. I could barely keep up, with one hand wrapped around and clutching my side, and every breath drew in a fresh jolt of sharp pain.

It was only when the doors of the gym opened and we had begun ascending up the hill away from the harbor that I remembered we weren't the only ones in the building.

"No no, stop!" I pulled my arm off of Leaf's neck and doubled back towards the gym. "Surge is still in there, and all those others! We need to get them out!" Her expression showed that she knew I was right, but there wasn't enough time…

"Tank, put it out!" Leaf's Wartortle appeared, puffed up its chest, and loosed a stream of water into the gym's inferno. The column of black smoke parted as the stream passed through it and a violent hissing sound confirmed that the Tank's attack was in the right spot.

"Come on, come on, get up, get up, go!" Again I was being forced to my feet and again I was struggling my way up the hill, Leaf carrying half my own weight.

"Where are we running to anyway!" I don't know why I was still shouting. The extreme stress of the situation, I suppose.

"Cerulean. Tunnel. Irwin." She choked out the words individually, pausing to gasp for air and cough. _She must've inhaled a lot of smoke_.

"But what abou-"

"He'll find us" she said, pre-emptively answering my question about Tank.

After a minute of our awkward and pained gait, Irwin's home and the Pokémon Fan Club building appeared among the houses in front of us. Leaf released my arm that hung around her neck and knocked incessantly on the tall wooden doors.

"Mr. Irwin, let us in! We need to get back to Cerulean!" The door fell open and dozens of astonished faces turned to look at ours.

_Why is there always a party in here!_

Everybody could tell something was wrong. It seems they were too far from the gym to have heard the explosion, but the smoke was already visible over the line of buildings, and the partygoers were starting to come to their own startling conclusions.

I could see Irwin shoving past his guests to get to us. Leaf shouted again to him "The tunnel, we need it!" He understood immediately, and helped Leaf hoist me up to be speedily carried to the trapdoor under the rug. The crowd around us loudly yelled questions to us and to each other, but everybody either stepped back or was pushed aside to make way for us. Both of my bearers dropped me at once. Irwin threw back the rug and lifted the door. Leaf clambered inside and helped me down as I followed her.

"My friend, what happened? Is someone chasing you? Do you need medical attention?" Irwin seemed genuinely perturbed by our appearance and the circumstances surrounding it. _I have to remember to be grateful to him for this later. _

"We'll explain everything later, sir. Thank you."

The mustachioed man gave a nod, and then slammed the door and the rug above it over our heads before we were even at the bottom of the shaft. As soon as my feet felt the ground again, Leaf placed herself under my arm one more time and we scuffled down the passage.

We didn't stop for anything. Not once.

We just kept running.


	17. Destructive Circumstance

**Hi all,**

**I'll be trying something new in this chapter: Original characters. It took a lot of brainstorming, but I think I've found a place for a few in the story. They don't have a major role in the story quite yet, but this stuff is going to start snowballing fast. On top of the OCs, there are a couple of new characters in general, but are not of my own creation. I'm sure you hardcore Pokefans will be able to tell them apart.**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

Chapter 17: Destructive Circumstance

"Oak, you've been here all night. You really should rest, the research can wait."

It was Professor Oak's colleague who was speaking. He was a much younger man than Oak; he wore his lab coat informally, with his wrinkled blue shirt visible under it. He wore large glasses and, despite being Professor Oak's junior, looked like he might soon start to go bald. He was an unimposing and thin man, infamous for his clumsiness. This man's name was Robert Elm. He was a brilliant and dedicated researcher in the field of Pokémon reproduction and breeding, unlike his colleague who specialized in Pokémon-human interactions.

Oak himself was sitting in front of a computer, holding his head in his hands, while the sky on the other side of the lab's window was slowly growing brighter. The dawn was on its way.

He had indeed been sitting there all night. His usually wrinkled face was now fraught with weary lines and dark marking beneath the eyes. The poor professor looked as if he had discovered some sort of heavy and awful truth. As a matter of fact, it was the absence of any discovery that was giving him so much grief.

"I can't go home yet, Elm. I've been wrestling with this since Red told me about what he saw. Nothing adds up. I can't just leave something like this."

Elm looked up from his notebook, its pages decorated with hand-drawn patterns of the eggs he had been observing for the last several weeks. They were organized in a grid-like fashion, presumably categorizing the eggs somehow, yet several of the papery windows remained blank. Those that were filled featured the eggs' sketches, with patterns varying from stripes to dots to jagged lines, spirals and even stars. Underneath were numbers, relating to weight, temperature and incubation time. There were dozens of other numbers, but it would take a lot more time before Elm was able to discover their significance. For now, he would try to help his colleague.

"Let me take a crack at it. Show me what's going on." Elm approached the chair that Oak sat in, and directed his attention to the screen.

Oak gave a sigh, lifted his head and dropped his hands back to the keyboard and mouse on the desk.

"Well, look at this. This article is about the lab fire on Cinnabar Island from almost a month ago. The official story says the fire started because of poorly maintained septic tank that was too close to the volcano. It also doesn't say anything about what they were doing in the lab."

Elm nodded, letting his eyes run over the enlarged newspaper on the screen. The headline read "Catastrophic accident sets Cinnabar laboratory ablaze". The picture accompanying it showed the laboratory itself (or rather, what was left of it), built into the side of the large volcano that occupied the southern portion of the island. It was put there for two main reasons. One was that the lab was meant to study the volcanic activity and a close proximity would be a huge benefit to the research. The other was that the geothermal energy of the volcano provided power for the laboratory, which suited the location even better, since the only settlement on Cinnabar was the small town on the northeastern shore, far from the radius of the volcano's magma flow.

"I don't see what's so odd about it, really. Newspapers for the public hardly ever discuss what research is being done anyways. It may have just been classified information in the first place."

Oak gave a grunt. "That's true, but that's not the odd part. Look at the damage. You think a fire could do that? To a lab built into the side of a volcano?"

Elm took a closer look. It was true; the level of damage to the building did not look anything like what a fire could do, especially if the building was designed to withstand volcanic activity.

"You're right, that is odd. But so what?"

"It doesn't stop there, Elm. You're aware that nobody got out alive, right?" Oak's face retained its grave expression.

"Of course, that was the part everybody talked about the most. Even Johto treated it as a national tragedy."

"Well look at this." Oak reduced the image of the newspaper to replace it with another; autopsy records. "Not a single one of the recovered bodies actually died because of the fire. They were dead before the fire ever reached them, and that's if there was a fire to begin with. Aside from the expected injuries, there's no indication of foul play, homicide, sabotage, or anything. It looks like they all just…dropped dead, right before their lab blew up."

Elm was beginning to grow worried. Oak was right; none of it was adding up.

"I'm sure there's still a simple expl -"

"Don't be so goddamn naïve! Something happened there and it's more than likely that everybody who knows what it was is dead!" Oak knew this for certain. He'd been chasing these leads for days, and with nothing new, was forced to ponder only what he had already found, but to no avail.

"And there's one more thing."

Elm raised an eyebrow. "Is there another hole in the story?"

Oak shook his head. "No, this is something I saw. Red had a vision of what happened. He actually saw it all happen, as if he was there, even though he wasn't. And on top of that…this accident happened just two days before he had his episode."

Elm knew this part. Oak had told him about it already. "You mean the one where he fell over, then couldn't remember anything?"

"It wasn't just amnesia. Something was totally wrong with his ability to process. He was seeing and experiencing things that weren't actually happening." Every time Red's bizarre mental condition was discussed, Oak remembered how grateful he was that he had recovered from it so quickly and without any noticeable complications.

"You mean like hallucinations?"

"It's more complicated than hallucinations. More like a corrupted perception of reality."

Elm pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "So you think that a lab fire killed a bunch of scientists in a way that a lab fire obviously could not have, while also giving your protégé amnesia and advanced hallucinations." He was trying to make it sound absurd, to snap Oak out of his bizarre obsession with the phenomenon.

Once again, Oak shook his head. "No, I'm saying that something else entirely caused both. But there's absolutely no information on what that could be, and until I find it, I can't help Red solve the mystery of what the hell happened to him."

Elm looked up and out the window of their lab, watching as the very first rays of sunlight were peeking out over the trees. "Why did you start calling him Red anyway, Oak?"

Oak shut down the computer, and all of the pieces of the unsolved puzzle vanished into the darkened screen. "He has really made a name for himself, and I for one choose to respect his success by using it. He deserves it, after all." Oak raised his bushy eyebrows to the rising sun.

"He certainly isn't the same person as the one who left Pallet Town…"

* * *

I've changed.

I don't know what it is, exactly. I don't exactly feel different. But I know that I've changed, in at least two ways.

For one, I'm stronger. I have total control over my Pokémon team, and I have their ultimate respect, on and off the battlefield.

And the second thing…I'm using my strength for destruction.

Leaf and I were still in the tunnel. We had arrived to the other end, where the ladder led up to Henry's home. We chose to stay where we were, at the foot of the ladder, for a few reasons.

To wait for Tank, whom we had left to douse the flames of the Vermillion gym. Irwin would know where to send him, but Tank may take a while to reach us.

To rest our exhausted bodies and catch our breath after having sprinted for what felt like hours. The pain in my healing rib was nothing in comparison to the acids burning in my muscles. To sit down and to breathe never felt as good as it did now, even if the air was heavy with the smell of dirt and sweat.

And finally, because we had no idea what to do.

"We can't travel by day anymore" I said. My words were separated by loud gasps. There wasn't enough oxygen in this tunnel to relieve the burning in my legs and the stabbing pains in my sides, but I tried anyway.

"What are you talking about?" Leaf brushed the loose strands of hair from her face, plastered their by her sweaty brow. She was gasping for air too.

"I just blew up a gym, full of people. I may have even killed their Leader." Even though it had only been a few hours at the most since my battle with Surge ended, I knew that I would never, for the rest of my life, be able to forget the expression of pure panic on his face as I sent a bomb hurtling at him.

"No, you didn't. He sent that Pokémon at you. You were only defending yourself, and your team. You can't accuse yourself of anything."

I wanted to argue, but at that moment, I remembered something even more urgent.

_My team. Snare!_

I quickly dumped his Pokéball onto the dirt, where it burst open. Snare was alive, thank goodness, but horribly injured. The usual blue-green tinge beneath his scales had considerably paled, indicating a large loss of blood. The scar on his underbelly left behind from his first encounter with Gary's Charmander had been split open anew, accounting for most of the deficit. The tunnel began to smell of burning leaves, as I noticed the front of his bulb had been singed dramatically, revealing the frail, intricate system of veins that kept the plant on his back alive.

He looked like he was hanging onto the last inch of his life, right before he collapsed.

"No, Snare!"

While I fell onto my hands and knees and began searching desperately through my bag for potions, Leaf released a Pokémon of her own. Feu had brought around a circle of Will 'o' Wisps for light, which hung in the air and slowly rotated, like a ghostly halo. The blue flames added no heat to the environment, and only the flickering of our own shadows on the walls kept us company.

"Roll him over" Leaf said, pulling Snare onto his back so that his underbelly now faced upwards, revealing the extent of his injury. "It looks like it's mostly superficial. There's no damage to the muscle. He just lost a lot of blood."

I finally found a potion in my bag, and applied it liberally to Snare's wound. "Do you think it'll work on the bulb?" I asked, flipping my Pokémon over so that he now lay on his stomach.

"That's tricky" Leaf said, running her hand over the scarred green tissues of the flowers. "It depends on whether or not the plant is actually part of him or if it's a separate organism. There's no real way to tell."

"Could it hurt?" I knew there was no urgency anymore, but I wanted to do everything I could to relieve my Pokémon's pain. Leaf shrugged her shoulders, and I went ahead. The potion bottle was empty by the time I had finished my work, and I stowed back into the bag, grateful for the empty space that Leaf had made in it before the gym match.

"Hey" I said, asking for Leaf's attention. She was still rubbing the damaged plant gently with the palm of her hand. It seemed to soothe Snare, at least a little bit. "How did the Pokéball stop him from dying?"

She shrugged again, continuing her gentle massage. "To be honest, I don't know how Pokéballs work. I always thought it was like a time capsule thing. You know, you send them in, time stops for them, and the next thing they know, you summon them back out."

I shook my head. "That doesn't sound right. They have an awareness of things happening outside of the balls when they're inside. They can hear when they're being called on."

"Bill would know. You should ask him."

I let my back fall against the dirt wall of the tunnel. Some moments of silence passed, where the only sound was the sound of Snare's purring as Leaf ran her hands over his scales.

"How are we going to go back up there?"

She sighed, her hand falling off Snare's back (much to his displeasure) and landing in her lap. "You know, you didn't do anything wrong…it was a battle, and Surge fought dirty. You have every defense possible on your side."

I lifted my head to look at her eyes, reflecting the dancing wisps above our heads. "Yeah, but I'm down here, and he's up there, telling everyone how I just made an attempt on his life…_that is, if he's even still alive…_

"I'll defend you. I was there, after all. I saw the whole thing." Even in the dim and ominous light of the tunnel, I could see her smile and suddenly, things didn't feel quite so bad anymore.

I looked down at Snare, still lying on his stomach, enjoying the effects of the potion on his sore body. This time it was my hand that ran up and down his cool scaly head. "You were amazing, buddy. None of this would have been possible without you."

Snare released a grateful rumble from his throat, as if to say that he understood. Then a pair of dark green eyelids slid sideways over his eyes, and he rolled into a calm sleep. We joined him eagerly, Leaf and I. Our backs against the dirt wall, facing each other across the floor of the tunnel which was so narrow that our legs were tangled together. I feel like she fell asleep first, and as my eyes began to flutter shut and the familiar walls of sleep close around me, I saw Feu's wisps float around aimlessly until they disappeared from sight…

* * *

"Has that…always been there?"

Three men stood atop the hillside leading out into the cape of Cerulean City. Red and Leaf in the tunnel did not know this, but they had chosen the appropriate time to sleep, for it was nighttime. The shadowy figures were dressed appropriately for the cool night, with long dark cloaks whispering in the grass behind their black boots with each heavy step they took up the hill. The three men, one who was a superior to the other two, were on their way to visit an old acquaintance, when one of the subordinates noticed the eerie cave to the west of the cape, the very same that Red had only just noticed when he blazed the same trail as them.

The superior of the three, Kepler, was now examining the odd geologic structure with his own eyes. He was an older gentleman, even older than his employer; the one who liked to spend his time in a suit and behind an ominous desk. His eyes were a soulless black that made the navy night sky seem light by comparison. Heavily angled eyebrows left a permanent scowl on his sallow, pale face, and the hood of his cloak came over his shoulders to cover the black hair that completed his appearance.

"I don't recall this cave ever being here before, Phaeton, but I find it hardly…compelling." Kepler let every syllable drop from his mouth as if it were stone. Listening to his voice gave even the most cheerful person shivers, and he had an awful habit of clipping his sentences one word short of the end, before letting out the last sound as a sinister hiss.

"Shall we continue?"

Wordlessly, the two subordinates followed Kepler, rustling the grass. Nobody spoke as they walked toward the tip of the cape, but Kepler was thinking hard.

_I should be sure to mention this to Giovanni. After all, it may be…relevant._

The only sounds in the night were the gentle whistle of wind and the soothing undulation of the water at the bottom of the canal. The smell of a crisp, late autumn breeze swam through the air, eventually joined by more peculiar, unnatural smells.

"There he is, gentlemen." Kepler stopped as soon as he saw the rectangle of light against the silhouette of a small cottage near the very end of the cape. The shape of a man walking around inside was just barely visible. The assortment of new smells was undoubtedly coming from there; chlorine, sulfur, phosphorous…

"Looks like he's inventing again" said the man who had, until now, been exceedingly quiet. His name was Briggs. He was of a stockier build than his companions, but surprisingly dimwitted although more physically imposing. This was all he had decided to say for now.

"Thank you, Sherlock" Kepler responded in a scathing sarcasm that dripped like venom from his teeth. "Perhaps we should leave William to his work for now. The more he gets done, the more he can give to us…_later_…"

* * *

My dreams were uncomfortable, to say the least. Flashes of Surge wreathed in flame were interspersed with images of Gary leaned over the corpse of his Raticate, yelling my name in a fury. Any remotely pleasant images that appeared would almost immediately explode. Every once in a while, I could swear that I saw a tall, gray, human-looking creature floating over an expanse of jagged black rock, a dim violet glow emerging from its eyes. Its long, purple tail swirled around its thin body as if a great wind were keeping it afloat…

When I was roused from my dreams, I was met with a wall of darkness. Feu's wisps were long gone, and only the claustrophobia of the tunnel was left. I could still feel Leaf's legs touching mine, and could hear her slow breathing, indicating she was asleep, and Snare's breaths were deeper and less ragged than before. He too was still asleep.

My heart was still pounding from the nightmarish images burned into my mind. The figure of the floating humanoid creature was the most intriguing; I could swear I'd seen it before somewhere. Somewhere recently…

I closed my eyes to try and hold onto the creature and keep its form in my memory, but it was like trying to cup water in my hands; everything just trickled out, and soon there was nothing left to grasp.

I was convinced my heartbeat was loud enough for the entire tunnel to hear. I raised my hand and put it over my chest to calm the erratic rhythms. Under my jacket I could feel the two small pins on the inside, my two badges from my first two gym battles.

_It's too bad that there isn't a third…_

I realized it all too late, but as my hand rested over the Boulderbadge and Cascadebadge pinned to my jacket, it dawned on me that I had no evidence of my victory over Surge. Going back to ask him for it was the closest I could imagine to a living hell. _I nearly killed him…heck, I might have. He may be dead or dying right now…or permanently injured…_I wondered if Surge's face caught fire like it did in my dreams, whether he was still alive…_who cares about a stupid badge when I may have just killed somebody…_

_What is all of this for, anyway? To become champion? Is it worth it, paying with sweat, blood and tears to become a figurehead for a nation crumbling under the weight of its citizens' hatred? Why bother? Why risk the life of anyone, especially myself and my friends, my Pokémon, for something as meaningless as a title?_

I had no answer for myself. I simply sat in the dark, listening to the breathing of my companions. Left to my own thoughts, the tunnel was painfully silent. I could almost hear the sound of running water if I strained my ears hard enough.

It was even getting louder.

"Leaf" I nudged her leg gently with my own, and heard her wake up with a start, conversely waking up Snare. "Leaf, do you hear that? The water?"

I couldn't see her, but I could hear the scuffling of her body standing up and hastily reaching for her belt.

"Yeah, I hear it. Feu, Will 'o' Wisp!"

Leaf's Vulpix gave a short high-pitched bark of compliance, and released a single orb of dark fire to float in the air in front of us, filling the tunnel with a cold eerie light, like a heatless lamp. I stood up too and placed myself shoulder-to-shoulder with Leaf, facing down the tunnel towards Vermillion City.

"It's getting louder, like it's getting closer" she said. The water sounded like a rapid gargling, as if the source were a powerful spray hose.

"It's definitely getting closer" Leaf repeated. "Look." She raised a finger pointing down the tunnel. I squinted my eyes and started to see what she was referring to. By the dim glow of the wisp, I could see a small, tan oblong shape in the distance, growing as it approached. Then the tan shape grew some flailing purple appendages. Then a small dark blue head with light winged ears.

"It's Tank!" we both shouted at once. And indeed it was. Tank was laying on his back with his head leaned all the way back, spraying water from his mouth with a tremendous force, enough to propel himself down the tunnel as if he were going down a slide. Occasionally his shell would collide with the walls of the tunnel, which would cause him to pinball back and forth until he could straighten out his stream.

"Hey Snare" I called behind me to my prone Ivysaur. "Help him slow down, he's going way too fast."

Snare didn't even get up. A vine unfurled lazily from his back and snaked between Leaf and I a surprising distance. Tank was already doing his best effort to slow down by lowering his flailing legs into the dirt, causing him to stand up right into the tip of Snare's outstretched vine just a few feet in front of us.

"Tortle!" Tank gave an excited salute to the three of us, and a polite bow to Feu, who did the best she could to curtsy with her four legs. Tank then sprinted as fast as his stubby hind legs could carry him to hug Leaf's ankle as if it were the part of her that he missed the most. In response, she knelt down and gave him a hug, which he graciously returned.

I knelt down too in order to communicate with Tank on his level. "Hey, buddy. Did you see Surge? Was he ok?"

"Tortle" Tank said dejected, lowering his head in shame. I didn't know what he said, but I understood the meaning well enough.

"No no, you did an excellent job. Thank you so much for staying behind and helping out." I placed a hand on the Wartortle's smooth scalp and scratched just a little behind the ears. "I'm just worried about him, that's all."

Tank gave a nod to show he understood. Then the trapdoor above us opened up, spilling in bright rays of morning sunlight and blinding all of us equally. The silhouette of Henry the Daycare Man appeared in the white square above us and he called down to us.

"So are you going to come up and say hi to an old friend, Red, or would you like a formal invitation?" His infectious laugh echoed down the tunnel, and Leaf and I came to the conclusion together that this cheerful man would always welcome us into his home, regardless of the circumstances that brought us there.

"Ladies first" I said, ushering Leaf to the ladder with an over exaggerated gesture. This made her laugh, just the smallest bit, and nowadays, it was one of the only things that made me feel truly happy anymore. Feu and the wisp both vanished with a click of a Pokéball at her waist, and Tank vanished a second later with a click from another. I did the same with Snare, whose wounds looked considerably better after a night of rest and medicine. The scars would still show for a long while, if they ever went away.

_It's alright, buddy. We're all carrying scars._

Henry welcomed us with enthusiasm and open arms. He sealed the trapdoor of the storage room as soon as we had all ascended, and led us into the main room of the house, where Saphira, my Gyarados, experienced her staggering transformation.

"You're shenanigans have been making it onto the news, you know" he told me, after we were seated and served some late morning tea for us, and a modest Pokémon breakfast for our teammates. _He is the Daycare Man, after all…_

Contrary to the bright oranges of Vermillion City, the buildings of Cerulean were only adding to the tranquil blue of the sky with their own subtle hues. It was less of an urgent feeling. Everything that happened in Vermillion was fraught with an unbearable urgency, and it took me to see Cerulean's skyline to realize how stressed I was from the whole ordeal.

"Is he alright?" I asked. There wasn't any need to specify who I was inquiring about. Henry set down his tea, and turned on a small television hanging from a corner of the ceiling with a remote control.

"He'll live, but…he's far from alright…" Henry flicked through the channels to find the right broadcast, finally settling on one that was currently televising an aerial shot of what was left of the Vermillion Gym. The roof was blown in, but the walls were still standing on all sides. A female reporter's voice was narrating off camera:

"Lt. Surge was rather notorious in the days of the gym challenge for the liberal use of Self-Destructing Voltorbs during battles, though it appears his explosive battle finale has manifested itself more as a controlled demolition this time around. The explosion had no casualties, but several serious injuries from battle witnesses have been admitted to Vermillion General for treatment."

The shot shifted to one of Surge, lying in a pristine white hospital bed, in sharp contrast to the darker colors of his damaged body. It seemed that the shot was done before Surge was actually admitted to the hospital as most of his wounds were still exposed to the air. Gauze was haphazardly wrapped around the visible half of his face, presumably to stem the severe bleeding from the charred flesh that was undoubtedly underneath. Lines of dried blood traced from his open wounds down the length of his neck and body, while bruises from debris spotted his arms. The most shocking sight was at the top of his chest, where his dog tags used to hang. The explosion had apparently superheated the material, leaving an almost black mark on his skin in the shape of his tags. Surge lay absolutely still while the camera broadcast his condition. I was absolutely horrified by the whole sight. The reporter continued her narration.

"The Gym Leader sustained numerous third-degree burns, as well as some severe cuts and bruises along the rest of the body. The Lieutenant will need extensive skin grafts along his face and torso, as well as several months of physical therapy. Doctors assure that a full recovery will occur as long as the Leader cooperates with the needs and limitations of his own body. There were a few injuries among others present, namely reporters from several stations who wanted front-row seats to the latest gym battle. Their full recovery is also assured by their doctors."

The camera complemented the shift in story by showing a line of three reporters and both of the cameramen, who also had cuts and bruises. The reporter mentioned that both of the cameramen also sustained concussions.

"Unfortunately, the cameras were far too close to the detonating Voltorb and were assuredly crushed under the collapse of the gym's roof. As of now, there is no way to recover footage of the battle to determine exactly what happened. Reporters present have tried to retell the story, but many critical points are disputed upon. With Surge unconscious and Red nowhere to be found, it seems that this question will remain unanswered for the time being."

Surprisingly, it was Leaf who turned off the television. I was simply too paralyzed from the consequences of my battle to bring myself to do it.

_I've hurt so many people…I…I didn't mean to…_

Leaf put the remote down and moved herself closer to me to rest a hand on my shoulder.

"You can't blame yourself, son" Henry said quietly, as if reading my thoughts. "If I know Surge, and I think I do from seeing his matches back in the day, this was exactly what he deserved. If you only knew what he wrought with his accursed Pokémon…" his voice trailed off, and he quietly finished his tea. Mine was getting cold, and I didn't particularly care for it anymore. _Not after what I saw_…Henry understood without me saying a word, and he carried off all of our cups back to his small kitchen.

"What will you do now?" Leaf asked me gently. It sounded more like a plea than a question.

I let out a low sigh, and brought my hands to cover my face. "I suppose I can keep going. I feel like I have to. I've come too far now" I said through my hands.

_But what if this happens again…who else am I going to end up hurting for this stupid quest?_

"You know it isn't your fault, right? And not because he was an awful person, but because you didn't have another choice. If you didn't throw that Pokémon back at him, it might be you that's in that hospital now…and that's assuming you would've even survived…" I didn't need to look up to know that a tear was forming in Leaf's eyes. I could already hear the tear in her voice.

"It doesn't make me feel any better about what I did." I raised my head from my hands and looked straight ahead, at nothing in particular. "I'd rather have the third degree burns all over my body than the guilt of giving them to another human being."

I felt Leaf's arms wrap sideways around my shoulders, and stay that way for a few minutes, silently, until Henry came back into the room and she released me, straightening up and quickly wiping the tears from her face.

"Will you continue?" he asked, seating himself across from me and interrupting my unfocused gaze at the wall of the room.

I shrugged. "I feel like I don't have a choice." He nodded his understanding.

"Where do I go next?"

He leaned forward in his chair. "Excluding Saffron, the closest gym to here would be in Celadon City, southwest of here. Celadon is a very poor city, practically a slum. It's a truly desperate and awful place, but I can't imagine you would be there for long. If you go, my friend Gregory at the Game Corner can give you a place to stay."

A truly desperate and awful place did not sound like one I wanted to visit just yet. "Henry, when I was in the tunnels, it went in a completely straight line. You said that it was supposed to connect four ways to all of the cities that surround Saffron, right? How do I get to the other two?"

Henry shrugged. "We made a mistake" he said. "Irwin and I managed to communicate our tunnels well enough to each other that ours met in the middle. Gregory and Fuji did too, but they connected theirs much deeper than the one that you went through. Ideally we wanted to drill a shaft at the point where ours passed over theirs to connect them, but we never did."

_That makes sense._ "Where does the Celadon tunnel connect to?"

"Lavender Town. To the southeast of here."

The name sent a chill over me, and for good reason. Everything I know about the place dealt with death and grief. Lavender Town was where dead Pokémon were sent to be laid to rest. Two of the tombstones in their cemetery would be bearing the names of Pokémon that I once owned…

"So I can either go to Lavender Town, home of the dead and the grieving, or I can go to Celadon City, a desperate and awful slum."

Henry gave a polite chuckle to my oversimplification. "I suppose if you say it that way, yes, it's not exactly a choice between rainbows and chocolate."

I mulled it over for a minute. I wasn't looking forward to another gym battle so soon after the disaster that just occurred, and I owed it to my Pokémon to visit their graves. _Plus, I can think of at least one other person I want to find who may be in Lavender Town…_

"I'll go to Lavender first" I said, rising from the couch and turned my eyes to focus on Leaf. "You'll come with me, right?"

"Of course" she said, rising to stand next to me and giving me a smile.

We packed up, collected our Pokémon and said our goodbyes to Henry, who gave us some general directions as well as a reminder to find Fuji when we arrive. We then headed out, first to Cerulean to restock on food, water and medical supplies at the Pokémart, then exited the city through the gate in the east. Along the way through the streets, I caught glimpses of advertisements from the Cerulean Gym. Misty, who was now referring to herself as the Cerulean Gym Leader again, was issuing that their circus performances will be less frequent, in order to make more use of the arena for its original purpose. She has so far had a few challengers, none of whom have managed to defeat her.

_Looks like she took my speech to heart._ _Good for her._

Before we left, Leaf decided to stop by the bike store that Irwin gave us the voucher for. She took for herself a foldable, red bike with an impressive all-around performance on different terrains. I asked her about the odd choice of color, to which she responded with a smile. "It's a way for me to remind myself of you."

Leaving the city brought us to a river, and we followed it along the bank for a couple miles. Leaf biked slowly, which required me to keep up with her at a brisk pace and, surprisingly, my sides didn't hurt when I tried. _Maybe this thing WILL finally heal_ I thought, tenderly poking the fracture.

We released our Pokémon as well, so they could join us in the exercise of travel. Aporia, Buffy and Houdini flapped behind us in the air. Andrea zoomed through the soft dirt at a surprising rate, with a happy Arnold the Oddish sitting on her round brown head. Saphira, who I felt bad for keeping imprisoned since our minor training session in Vermillion, was swimming in the river beside us, snaking her serpentine body in and out of the water in big semicircles, white fins along her back effortlessly cutting through the clear water. At some point, Tank leapt in with her, and the two Water Pokémon sparred in the river. As we went, Leaf and I talked a lot, and I ended up trying to learn more about her again.

"Do you think we'll ever be able to get into Saffron?" I asked her. She shrugged her shoulders.

"It's possible. I mean, if I can get out, I'm sure you can get in."

"Would you want to?" This caused her to slow down just a little as she thought about the question. "I mean, I know it's not your favorite place but…if I'm going to beat all of the gyms, I'll need to go to Saffron eventually."

"I know" was all she said. Just like last time, questions about her past tended to yield abrupt and ambiguous answers. Nevertheless, I tried.

"Would you…want to see your family?" I knew she could sense the hesitance that I was trying to mask.

"I don't really care if I see them or not. After all, they never seemed to care whether they saw me."

"What about us? Do you think they know that we met, that we're traveling together?"

"Of course not" she said. And that was where our conversation seemed to end. The tension between us dissipated pretty quickly, as our Pokémon's antics cheered us up and brought us back into a joking mood.

When the sun was touching down on the horizon, we had reached pretty close to the edge of the continent. The river was widening considerably and the other shore was now hardly visible. In front of us was just ocean, with the sun slowly dipping into it and bathing the sky in oranges and pinks. We turned to the south and continued for some time, and reached a Pokémon Center just when the sky had turned to night.

Going into the Center was awkward. I had become far too recognizable, and everybody wanted to ask me questions, offer their support, or curse me and the destruction I caused. Some wanted to phone authorities, but the nurse reminded them authorities weren't in a particular rush to look for me. We turned our Pokémon in for the night, and rented a room with separate beds, which I proudly paid for myself. In the room, Leaf left her folded bike by the door, and went to take a shower. I decided to take mine in the morning, and collapsed into the bed, exhausted. As tired as I was, I couldn't fall asleep right away. Too many wayward thoughts were running around in my brain to give me the peace I needed to rest.

I thought about the approaching visit to Lavender Town, how I wanted to see the place where my fallen teammates were buried. I was overcome with memories of Icarus and Remy, who had both died in battle far before their times. I thought about how I might run into Gary there, mourning his own loss…

I thought about the damage I did, to Surge and to his gym, and to several innocent bystanders. I thought about how I couldn't blame myself for what happened, but continued to anyway. I wondered if I could ever earn Surge's forgiveness, and what I should be afraid of if he isn't the type to forgive…

I thought about the creature that I occasionally see in my mind, like I did in the tunnel earlier in the day.

I thought about the future for myself and my Pokémon, and whether I would have to watch any more of them die in pursuit of what was beginning to look like a hopeless goal, what with one badge unaccounted for, the Saffron gym being inaccessible, and the Viridian gym leader being inexplicably missing.

As my churning thoughts began to calm down, and I started to drift off to sleep, I heard Leaf sneakily enter the room and tiptoe over to her bed. My last thoughts before sleep overpowered me were about her.

_And what was her story anyway?_

* * *

**I'll be taking some creative liberty with Celadon City, but it'll be pretty different from what's in the game, so be prepared for that. You'll have to wait a couple of chapters before we get there though.  
**

**How'd you like it? Leave some detailed feedback. I really do pay a lot of attention to them and I try to make my writing as good as possible based on what I see in the reviews. So it's very much appreciated!  
**

**Next chapter will be featuring a new Pokemon for the team, and a dramatic shift in perspective.  
**

**Also, I think I'll be doing my updates on Friday nights (just so you guys know when to expect). Of course, if I get a chapter done before then, I won't leave you guys waiting for no reason.  
**

**Thanks for reading!**


	18. Her Story

Chapter 18: Her Story

He was already out of the room by the time I woke up. Through haze of slanted sunlight and half-wakefulness, I could see the slip of paper he left on his bed. I propped myself up onto my hands and sat up under the blanket, staring at the wall for a few moments. _He couldn't sleep_, I thought as I remembered the tossing and turning I heard coming from the neighboring bed throughout the night. _ I suppose he has a lot to keep him up at night though…_

This is how I kept telling myself that I should keep my emotional baggage away from him. He has plenty to focus on.

Getting out of bed was never really my thing. When all I had to look forward to was the distant relationship I had with my parents and the emotional hostility of school, I would always do my best to stay under the blanket as long as I possibly could. I remember thinking how nobody would miss me if I just stayed there…

But now, traveling, training…_living_. I have reason to get up in the morning. I'm away from home, away from school, away from the constricted streets of that prison of a city. I have Pokémon who treat me like their trainer, not just their owner. I have dirt and grass stains on my clothes and the faded soles of my shoes to show all the miles I've walked. I felt like things were exciting for the first time in my life. I had purpose.

And of course, I had Mike.

I smiled as the name came to mind. It's not the name he wants to have anymore, but to me, that's who he'll always be. No matter what changes, I'll always remember the confused trainer who blew 500 dollars on a Magikarp…

I leaned across the space between our beds, reaching with my fingertips for the note and pulling it back to my side. There wasn't much to read though.

_Leaf,_

_Training at the shore, come find me._

At the bottom of the slip were the beginnings of a capital M, which were furiously scribbled out and replaced with just _Red_. _  
_

I laughed out loud at the signature. _You can't bury yourself that easily_. Coming to find him though? That was all the reason I needed.

I got out of bed, washed my face, dressed and tied up my sneakers. I left the note on my bed, but changed my mind as I was heading out the door and put it in the pocket of my bag instead.

I didn't generate as much attention as he did when I walked out into the Pokémon Center lobby, but people could still recognize my face enough, and since I wasn't really a source of controversy like Mike was, everyone flashed me a friendly smile. I approached the nurse's counter to ask for the Pokémon I had turned in for the night back.

"Sure!" she responded enthusiastically to my request. "Leaf, right?"

I nodded.

"He's not too far from here, somewhere along the beach." The nurse continued to try to small talk while looking for the tray with my Pokéballs on it among the racks behind her. "He's the character, isn't he?"

I nodded again. "Yeah, I suppose he is."

The nurse came back with my tray and set it on the counter. Eagerly, I collected the Pokéballs and stored them around my belt, comfortable with the familiar weight they brought back with them.

"Do you think he'll do it?" she asked me before I had the chance to walk away. "Become champion?"

I gave one last nod. "If there's anything you can be sure of, it's that."

* * *

Sure enough, I found him right where he said he would be. He sat on the rocky beach, facing the eastern sea, his newly evolved Gloom sitting beside him. They were staring at the sun freshly raised from the water, resting after what I guessed was an intense morning training session. I had never seen him so…_peaceful_. Everything I knew about Mike was in ambition, in perseverance, in overcoming conflict. I don't think I've ever seen him in a moment where the world wasn't beating away at him.

He turned his head just enough to see me coming up the shore towards them. He raised his hand in greeting, and Arnold mimicked the gesture. His transformation wasn't as dramatic as the other evolutions of our group have been. The fronds of green grass that used to be on his head had now become a darker orange color, and parted sideways to show a set of four pods. Two brand new but stubby hands now sprouted from his dark blue body, and a wide grin leaked a sort of sticky sap at the corners.

"Good morning!" I sat myself down on Arnold's other side and gently patted his head. "Congrats on the upgrade" I joked with the little Pokémon, and then raised my eyes to meet his. "And you too" I added. "How do you feel?

"Great, actually!" His response was enthusiastic enough that I nearly believed him, but he raised his shirt for emphasis anyway. "Check this out" he said, pointing to the spot on his body where I knew the fractured rib lay. The bruised skin was gone, and there was no sign of any external damage at all.

"Wow! How did that happen?" Mike pointed with his thumb at the Pokémon sitting next to him, and Arnold sheepishly raised his arm.

I laughed. "Well, at the rate you get yourself into trouble, Mike, you'll have to keep him around so that you're still in one piece by the end of all of this. Is the rib healed too?"

"Probably not" he said, lowering his shirt back down. "I'm guessing it's just numb for now."

"How did you sleep?"

He shrugged. "Not remarkably. Comfortable beds." His answer was awkward, and I knew why. _He probably couldn't sleep at all..._

The conversation stopped, and for a few minutes we just sat and stared at the ocean together.

"You know what I think will make you a better trainer?" he said suddenly but without turning his head. "You should try to battle more. You have pretty good control of your team, you just need to let them see some real action, instead of just drills."

The idea made me nervous. A real battle would mean real stakes, and the lives of your friends are not things to gamble with.

Nevertheless, I agreed. _After all, a battle with Mike wasn't a 'real' battle._

"We'll do just one-on-one to get you started. But I promise to spend some more time practicing and battling with you to keep your strength up." We were standing about 20 paces apart on the beach. He released his Golbat, Buffy, into the air and I decided I would let Feu try her chops in combat. The brown six-tailed fox appeared next to me and gave a lazy yawn.

"We're going to try battling now!" I told her excitedly. She simply cocked her head in response.

"Whenever you're ready!" he called to us, and Buffy gave a shrill chirp to confirm.

"Alright, let's start with an Ember!" The little fox sprinted towards her opponent and loosed cinders from her mouth, peppering the sky with small orange coals. It wasn't the most effective assault, but Feu was still young and her fire-breathing abilities were undeveloped.

The thin membranes of Buffy's wings were especially sensitive to the floating embers, and she flapped away in a panic as the first few touched her skin. "Get her back with a Wing Attack!" The great bat gained altitude and accelerated downwards, aiming to clip Feu with one of her wings.

"Dodge it!" This was exactly the type of situation my drills had prepared me for. Feu deftly rolled sideways, and Buffy's wing merely left a gash in the sand as her flight arched back upwards.

_She's really fast…I should try to disable her somehow first._

"Feu, Confuse Ray!" Feu's eyes became overshadowed by a flash of blue as she aimed her gaze for her airborne target. The effects were immediate but subtle. First Buffy's flight pattern became crooked and unsure, as if she were losing control of the air.

"Try to shake it off!" I heard Mike call, and Buffy responded by reducing her speed. _Oh no you don't…"_

"Confuse Ray again!" Another brief flash and Buffy stumbled in the air. "Now Quick Attack!" Feu broke out into a sprint again and leapt up, trying to collide with the Golbat. In her confusion, Buffy drifted just out of reach and Feu's attack missed as she landed tactfully back on the ground.

"Not bad, not bad at all!" I heard Mike calling. He ran towards me, slowing as he approached. "If we keep practicing, you may eventually be able to land a hit" he teased. I punched him in the arm as an answer.

"Hey, you dropped one of your Pokéballs" I said, noting the red and white sphere laying in the dirt by where Mike had just stood. He raised an eyebrow and looked down at his belt. Six of the spheres lay arranged there, all accounted for.

"Could be someone else's" he shrugged. Despite not being his, Mike walked back to the spot where the Pokéball lay, and I followed suit a few steps behind after calling Feu back and thanking her for a good, albeit short, battle.

As the distance between us and the Pokéball diminished, Mike's footsteps slowed until he stopped completely only five steps away.

"It's a Voltorb" he said, fear suddenly finding its way into his voice.

I gasped without meaning to, and saw he was right. The little sphere was vibrating in the sand, emitting a buzzing sound like an angry Beedrill. On the upper red half of the body were the two slanted eyes, looking up at us.

I knew that he was reliving the explosion at the Vermillion gym. The one that nearly killed Surge and that he felt directly responsible for, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

"You should catch it. Add it to the team" I said, breaking the silence that until then was perforated by the occasional whirring of the creature in front of us.

"Why would I do that" Mike responded. The energy in his voice from our battle had been drained, and he sounded hesitant and uncertain.

To me, the question sounded stupid. "You can always use another Pokémon. Especially since you don't have an electric type."

"This Pokémon is a bomb. A literal weapon. Why would I want something like it with me, especially after what we saw?"

It took every ounce of self-restraint I had to not slap him for his comment.

"Pokémon aren't weapons! It's bastards like Surge who turn them into tools of combat but you're better than that and I've seen it!" I gestured with an open palm to the Voltorb who seemed to shrink back in fear by the sudden increase in volume. "Just because this Pokémon is capable of exploding doesn't mean that it was meant to or that it should, and that decision depends on you! Every creature that you're carrying around your belt now is capable of horrifying damage, but it's you who shows them how to use their strength in other, better ways."

My words echoed around us until the silence came back. The Voltorb had ceased its whirring, and its eyes were now looking at Mike. He gave out a low sigh and said "You're right"

He knelt in the sand next to the Voltorb and reached a hand out to it. The spherical creature rolled back and began to buzz angrily. _I suppose he hasn't won its respect yet. Just its curiosity…_

"Alright, let's do it the old-fashioned way." At that moment, Buffy seems to have recovered from her confusion and roosted on Mike's shoulder.

"Wing Attack!"

The Golbat's wings flared open and she zoomed towards her target, aiming to broadside it.

The Voltorb was caught off guard, but managed to roll out of the way, kicking up sand in the process. Once it was upright again, the eyes narrowed and the buzzing raised itself to an ear-piercing intensity. The air around the round body rippled before the Voltorb blasted a concussive wall of distorted air at Buffy, smacking her head-on with a loud bang.

"Looks like a Sonicboom attack" I heard Mike say, but my eyes were trained on Buffy, flapping to regain control of the air. "Go in for another Wing Attack!"

Buffy made a sharp turn in the air, gained some altitude and rocketed downwards. The wings flared open just before she would've slammed into the sand, leaving her gliding at a rapid pace inches from the ground toward her target. This time, instead of aiming to broadside the Voltorb, she clapped both wings together around the Voltorb, disorienting it long enough for Mike to lob a Pokéball in its direction which he had readied in his palm.

The Pokéball hit the Voltorb with the clang of metal-on-metal, then unclasped, sucking the creature inside in a flash of light. The Pokéball fell to the ground and wriggled in the sand, before the struggle ceased and the metallic shutter added another team member to our group.

Mike approached the spot and picked up the ball, which again, looked remarkably similar to the Pokémon that was now stored inside. He clicked the button on the rim that opened the ball, and released the Voltorb, who no longer looked so violently displeased.

"Let's try this again" he said, kneeling down in the sand and outstretching his hand to the creature. This time, Voltorb's buzzing sounded more like a purr, and it nudged its body close enough so that the cool metal surface touched Mike's palm.

"Wow, come feel this!" he said excitedly, and I joined him next to the new Pokémon, replacing his hand on its body with mine. There was a mild tingling sensation in my fingers as they ran over the red dome shape. I guessed it was the electricity circulating through the metal that caused it.

"I think I'll name you Maxwell" he said. The Voltorb gave an excited nod, and a loud whirring sounded its approval.

I rose from the ground, brushing the sand from my knees and leaving Mike to do what he wanted to in the first place. "Maxwell, do you know how to self-destruct?" Mike illustrated with his hands an explosion just to make sure his meaning was clear. The Voltorb gave another nod, but less excited and more concerned.

"I want you to never ever do that to yourself. Even if I one day command you to, you are never to self-destruct, ok?" This time the Voltorb showed no sign of understanding, but somehow Mike knew that the message had come across. "Welcome to the team" he ended the brief exchange by summoning the new Pokémon back into its capsule.

"I definitely have to ask Bill how these things work. It's crazy how much it changes them" Mike commented, holding up the Pokéball to eye-level. "You hungry?" he asked, turning to me.

"Starved" I smiled.

* * *

It was already lunch time when we got back, but being outside on the shore was too good to pass up, so we brought the food we bought there and enjoyed it with our Pokémon.

"We should stay one more night here and keep going in the morning" Mike said, finishing off a bottle of water. "For now, would you want to just…I don't know, train some more, I guess?"

The way he asked me gave me the feeling that he wanted to spend time together more than he wanted to train. How could I turn that down?

Train we did. We went through pretty much every possible matchup between our two rosters, even giving Saphira and Tank another chance to spar in the water. Mike spent a lot of time with Maxwell especially, figuring out what kind of moves it was capable of and adapting new battle strategies. He used his own team for that, and I was able to just sit by and watch with my own team beside me. While gently stroking the soft fur collar of my Eevee, I really started to observe and appreciate Mike as a trainer. He was devoted, patient and a hard-worker, and it really came through when he took hours to work one-on-one with a creature that he had seen blow in a building and nearly kill a man. It couldn't have been easy, but it was an important lesson for him to learn, that Pokémon are what we make them to be.

After the incredibly long training session, everybody was exhausted. We sat on the beach again, the sun behind us now, setting behind the distant mountains. All of the Pokémon were back in their balls, resting, and Mike and I sat together, enjoying the twilight.

I heard him draw up the breath to speak, and he said "I want to apologize to you".

_That's an odd thing to say_. "What for?"

"I've been pretty…pushy…asking you about your history. I know it's not something you like to talk about and I should be more mindful of that." He sounded sincerely ashamed, and I felt bad. I was the one who was acting like a recluse from someone I've spent so much time traveling with and…perhaps someone I was considering as more than just a companion now.

"No, don't be sorry" I replied, putting my hand in the sand by his. "I should be more open with you anyway. You've told me everything you could about yourself, and I should respect that by doing the same."

He let out a single laugh, letting his eyes stare aimlessly into the sky above the water. "There are a few things I haven't really bothered to mention. I mean, I did get my memories back not too long ago, and I think you just didn't ask me about them for the sake of being polite."

That was how he started his story, and I listened intently. He talked about his childhood friendship with Gary, and how they both always wanted to grow up to be Pokémon masters, how Gary was the natural prodigy and he had to study and train twice as much to get just as far. He told about his father, who always seemed to be there, caring and friendly, up until he inexplicably left one day when Mike was only six years old, and Mike had no idea why. He talked about how he had to look forward to Pokémon journey to go on when he was ten, but always kept putting it off to stay at home and take care of his mother, and Gary said he would wait so they could start their journeys together.

The story made a lot of things about Mike make sense. The ambition, the drive to push past impossible odds. It was all built up from how much he had to prove and never had the chance to, stuck in one spot because of things outside his control. A pressing question started to grow in my mind, and I had to interrupt his recollection of the amnesia to ask it.

"Why do you want to be champion?"

The question resonated oddly, as if it were hanging above his head and he wasn't sure what to make of it. Slowly, the tension dissipated as he played in the sand with his finger, contemplating the weight of the answer he was about to give.

"I want to fix things"

There was another pause, but not as uncomfortable as the first. Then he continued.

"I want to get myself to a place where I can actually affect what's going on around here. I want to help fix up the cities, I want to get rid of the crime, I want to stop trainers from sending their Pokémon into battle to kill each other, or themselves. I want fewer Surges in the world, and more people like us. I have to get everyone's attention to do that and to make it work, and I have to do it by accomplishing something nobody else has. That's why I want to be champion."

He pulled his finger out of the sand and I looked down at the drawing he had absentmindedly made. It was a Pokéball; a circle with a line cutting it in half, and a smaller circle at the very middle.

"And you think you can make it?"

He nodded. "As long as I don't give up, I'm sure of it."

"Then I'll stick with you until the very end. Promise." There, I said it. I sealed our journey as a pair. He'll always have me to fall back on, and I know that one day he'll need to.

"Thank you. It means a lot to me" he looked me right in the eyes as he said it. "Tell me your story now" he said, wiping his design from the sand, leaving a smooth patch.

"There's not so much to tell" I said shyly. "Parents are rich, and I hated them for it. They were both always working and I hardly ever got to see them. School was awful, I was hated there too since my family was wealthier than everybody else's and I never made any friends despite how hard I tried. I didn't care about anything that I was being taught, and my only companions were these guys" I tapped the two Pokéballs at my waist, belonging to Feu and Yin.

"They were the best money could buy!" I announced, in a pompous imitation of my dad's deep voice. "Every day I would wake up and have nothing to look forward to. Neglectful parents, hostile school environment. It sucked, all of it!" I noticed the rapidly increasing urgency of my voice, and I could only hope that I wasn't getting annoying, because it was too late to stop now.

"So I just ran away!" I threw my hands wildly in the air. "I left it all! I left my parents, my home, my peers, everything that made me absolutely sick. I took my Pokémon with me just because I had nothing else. I didn't want any of that expensive crap that they kept buying for me, I just wanted to have parents who would meet me at the door when I came home and ask me how I was and eat dinner with me and tell me they loved me." I felt like I was getting close to tears, and in the stupidest attempt at hiding it, I crashed my face down into the shoulder of Mike's red jacket. It seemed to shock him at first, but eventually his arm came around to hold me closer. Surprisingly, it was a huge comfort.

I took a minute to catch my breath, inhaling through the fabric of the jacket, then I continued.

"I ran away. I stole Tank from Dad's desk, I grabbed some clothes, as much money as I could stuff into my pocket and I left. Nobody even bothered to stop me. The blockade guy at the gatehouse was asleep so that was no problem to get through at all. After that I just stayed off the routes, I had no idea where I was or where I was going. I found Houdini at one point, and somehow I made it to Mt. Moon. That was where you found me and now I feel useful and wanted and…like I have a real friend…"

His hand began to move up and down slowly on my back, and it soothed my rising aggression. I tried to make a joke of it. "I bet you're sorry for asking me all that, huh…"

The answer surprised me. "No" he said "I'm actually glad. You needed to get it out of you, and you feel better for doing it." He was right. I was calming down fast, and pretty soon my head was just resting on his shoulder, his hand still gliding over my back.

"I won't take you back there if you don't want to go" he said. "I'll have to eventually. There's a gym there, so it's on my list."

"I already told you, I'm following you to the end."

He smiled. The sun was practically gone, and only the dark purple of an evening sky was left, peppered with millions of starry specks. He rose from the sand and dusted it off his jeans before extending a hand to me. "How about right now you just follow me back to the room? We're heading out tomorrow."

I took his hand gladly, and we walked back together.

* * *

As bright as the midnight sky can be with its millions of stars, every night it was put to shame by the lights of Celadon City.

Once the entertainment district of the much larger city that used to exist (composed of the current Saffron, Celadon, Vermillion and Cerulean cities), Celadon was alight with the neon advertisements of clubs, casinos, hotels and theaters. Streaks of green, yellow and pink raced around the corners of buildings, bathing the streets below in a multi-colored daylight. Celadon had everything a soul could possibly want from life.

Unfortunately, the city was poorly sustained. After the blockade and separation of the business district that eventually became Saffron, Celadon collapsed under its own corrupted hedonism. The lights on the buildings still flicker and patrons still come, but their minds are hollow, their souls wearisome, and their bodies just looking for a pleasurable fix. Trash litters the sidewalk, darkened alleys are breeding grounds for filth and poverty, and crime runs like a plague, afflicting everyone. It was a perfect place for two women to hatch a plot, going perfectly unnoticed by the hazy eyes of the glazed Celadon denizens.

The first woman had shocking white hair which slid down her back in an ice-like curtain. Piercing grey eyes looked out from under heavy lids, decorated with silver make-up. A slender frame beneath her perfectly white skin gave the illusion that she was a walking ice sculpture. Her name was Vega, and she had grown up in these very streets she now stalked. She had found a new use for her…_talents..._

The second woman was named Echo. In contrast to her partner, Echo's hair was black as oil, and kept much shorter, just below her ears. Large golden hoops hung freely from under the dark cascade, and her complexion was considerably darker than Vega's. Her eyes were indistinct, if for no other reason than that she kept them shielded behind dark glasses. Despite it being night, Echo was known for never having taken them off. Rumors at the organization were that she was blind, but anybody who had ever faced her down in a fight would know quite well that was not the case.

Both women wore black uniforms, which contrasted sharply with Vega's snow white hair and skin, and simply made Echo blend more into the shadows of the street. The uniforms were emblazoned with thick red R's. Neither spoke a word, as they both knew where they were going. An average casino and bar near the east side of town, called Greg's Game Corner.

As they approached, Echo pulled a sleek black handgun from her back, where a second identical weapon was still holstered. Vega simply unclicked a single Pokéball from her hip. The Game Corner appeared on a corner, just as obnoxiously bright and decorated as the other Celadon casinos. Of course the casino was still open and assumedly several middle-aged men were inside gambling away their money, but a little theatricality was always useful for spreading the word…

Without hesitation, Echo kicked in the door, shattering the glass inlets and knocking it off the hinges. Immediately shouts rang out, and a single bullet silenced the sudden uproar. Echo had fired into the ceiling, knocking out a light and commanding total attention. The rest of the casino's lighting began to flicker, and the confused patrons crouched onto the carpet, now covered in fine glass dust, with their hands raised to their heads.

"That was easy. All yours, girl" Echo twirled the firearm on her finger once, then trained it one at a time on the terrified patrons, threatening to quell any resistance with a single twitch of her finger. Vega stepped forward, releasing her Pokémon to stand by her. The creature that appeared resembled its master in many ways. For one, it was a humanly shaped, especially taking on the appearance of a female. On the other hand, it seemed to be a highly warped image of what was once a beautiful woman. The skin was a light purple, as if the skin had been repeatedly frostbitten. Blonde haired hung down over what appeared to be a red dress. Purple hands extended from the sides of the body and exaggerated facial features surveyed the room.

"Jynx, be a dear and help us find our man." The Jynx crooned a response and seemed to glide through the room on invisible feet towards the rear of the casino. All was silent while Echo and Vega kept the hostages quiet. The sound of footsteps began to come from the rear, but they were clearly not Jinx's. A heavy-set man with a gray beard and large brown overcoat stepped into the flickering light, and raised a shotgun, pointing it at the intruders. A toothpick stuck out from between his lips, held firmly in his teeth.

"An' what the hell d'you two want?" he asked, his gruff voice filling the room, and the heavy smell of liquor following it.

"Just a word, Mr. Gregory." Vega's voice was smooth and sultry, a rather stark comparison to the booming words of the man with the shotgun.

"If'yer wanted a word, coulda jus' knocked" he motioned with the tip of his weapon toward the door now laying on the carpet. "Whatayer really want"

Vega raised her hands in mock defeat, and took a step towards Gregory. "First, I'd like to know what happened to my Pokémon."

"Back there still" Greg motioned with his head. "Trapped 'er in there for the time bein'. Now whaddaya want?"

"We would like to use your casino as a temporary base of operations for future events of great importance." A thin smile spread over Vega's lips as she heard Echo's gun click, indicating a bullet was in the chamber and being aimed.

"No can do, missy. Now I suggest ye two should be leavin' now." As if to rival Echo's gun, Greg gave a single loud pump with his own. "I'll give yer five seconds to get offa my property. I'll be billin' ya for the door later."

"Very well then." Vega turned toward her companion. "Fire away."

The gunshot sounded and a loud clang, followed by a brief spark, from the opposite side of the room revealed Greg to be standing, perfectly fine, and with a brand new smirk.

"Ye got three seconds left" he said, almost letting out a laugh.

"What the hell, did you miss?" Vega said in a harsh whisper.

"You KNOW I never miss, I got him right in the chest!" Echo seemed just as confused by the outcome, clicking another bullet into the chamber. Greg raised an eyebrow in response.

"Go right ahead, be my guest" he said, gesturing with open hands to his chest. "Wan' me to paint a bullseye on for ya, sweetie?"

Echo fired again, this time at Greg's head. His neck snapped back as it expected, with all of the patrons eliciting loud gasps and "oh no"s at the sight, but there was no wound and the bullet landed harmlessly on the floor.

Vega was extremely bothered. This wasn't going at all according to plan. "How the hell are you doing that!"

Greg mockingly wagged a finger at her. "Ah ah, a magician never reveals his tricks. A mime on the other hand…"

At that moment, another humanoid Pokémon leapt out from behind the bar. It was a white and pink creature with spindly arms and legs. It looked very similar to a clown, with a smooth white face and large hands with padded fingers. The Pokémon leapt in front of Greg and threw up its hands just as a mime would if he were pretending to form a wall.

"Of course, how very cute." Vega's voice regained its usual seductive demeanor. "That's how you trapped my Jinx, isn't it?"

"Sure is!" Greg seemed happy with the success of his bullet-proof ruse, all thanks to the psychic abilities of his Mr. Mime. "Now I'll give you ladies one more chance to leave, or things are gonna get a whole lot uglier"

"Not a chance!" Echo bellowed, this time releasing Pokémon instead of a bullet. A swarm of four Golbats appeared in the casino and hell broke loose. The patrons panicked as the winged Pokémon began to attack incessantly, wrecking the casino. Echo opened fire, attempting to break through the barrier that the Mr. Mime was sustaining in protection of its master. Greg meanwhile was firing haphazardly at the Golbats, successfully shooting one down, but they were too fast and some of the patrons were beginning to suffer from the poisonous bites they acquired.

"Marcel, I think it's time for us to make an exit. Psybeam!" Greg called. The Mr. Mime made an exaggerated pushing motion with its wide hands, sending a wall of psychic energy through the room and shattering all of the remaining windows. The Golbats and the two Rockets were shoved back, but the patrons were left unaffected.

"Now Safeguard!" Marcel raised his hands to the air and made a twirling with its fingers, as if simulating rain. A soft blue aura collected around the patrons, stemming the poison in their blood and slowing down the effects. Greg ran over to the group, spitting his toothpick out along the way.

"Everyone here, we're getting out!" Those who were able ran over to the man, and Mr. Mime collected his energies for one final magic trick.

"Now make us disappear, Marcel." The Mr. Mime clapped its wide hands together, and in a flash, the room was completely empty.

Echo raised herself from the fresh collection of glassy debris and brushed it off her dark uniform. Vega was already standing, examining the damage. "I don't understand why he was so against our little visit" she said, running her gloved hands through her hair and brushing out the glass. "We only needed to use the basement, after all…"

* * *

**Yay, so many new things! **

**I think I'll draw the line here with the OCs. I have plenty to keep a novice author thinking.  
**

**What do you guys think of my version of Celadon? What do you think of the story told from Leaf's perspective?  
**

**Would you want future chapters to shift POV to other characters?  
**

**Review and let me know!**

**Next chapter may take sometime to get up, since I have two exams to look forward to this week, but I'll get it done as soon as possible.  
Thanks again for reading!  
**


	19. Times Cut Short

Chapter 19: Times Cut Short

Everything was going according to plan.

The Rocket boss leaned back in his chair and propped a foot on his desk. _Yes, everything is certainly going according to plan. _

It was only the previous night that he heard from Echo and Vega that they had easily taken control of the exact Game Corner he wanted. It would be crucial in the final movement of his design. What Greg, the Game Corner's former owner, didn't know was that the establishment had a hidden basement, accessible only to the Rockets, placed their far before that fat cigar-smoking oaf ever took ownership. But now the Game Corner was back under Rocket control.

The other piece of good news came in the morning. Lavender Town's spiritual guru Fuji was under their control as well and was being kept hostage. The first phase of the plan had gone off without a hitch. The Rocket boss closed his eyes and remembered the euphoric rush he felt when his things went his way, as the words of the morning conversation reverberated in his ears.

"_Where are you going to keep him?"_

"_In a place nobody can get to without the old man in the first place." The operative was put in charge of assessing the situation before kidnapping Fuji and making a good decision of where to hold him hostage. "Nobody will be bothering us up here."_

_The boss made a crooked smile into the receiver of his phone. "How clever…" he said as he realized the location his operative was referring to. "Report with results as soon as possible." With a click, the conversation was over. _

The only part of the operation still not reported on was Kepler and his doings up in the Cerulean cape. He had been sent to extract information from a former Silph employee.

Again, the Rocket boss remembered the dossier he had given Kepler before the mission.

"_He goes by Bill. A prodigious inventor and engineer, former Silph research division scientist, and popular introvert. We know he lives in a cabin on the outskirts of Cerulean city, on the cape." As he spoke, the boss slapped down images of Bill's face, a resume he had siphoned from Silph records and a picture of his homely cabin overlooking the sea._

_Kepler's dark eyes lazily traced over the young man's face on the desk before him. "And what in the world do you want from this kid, sir?"_

"_You underestimate his talents, Kepler. This 'kid' single-handedly constructed the computer interface that is able to store and retrieve Pokémon in cyberspace, essentially pioneering the first plausible means of teleportation. Rumor has it he even perfected the Pokéball design to catch anything flawlessly." _

_Kepler raised an eyebrow at such a fantastical claim and immediately wondered about the prospects of such a device, if it existed. "What do you need me to do?" he asked, folding up the image of Bill and sliding it into his dark jacket. _

"_Find him. Talk to him. See if he's invented anything that can aid us in our upcoming operation. I would especially like any information regarding the Masterball, as it has been called. Something like that would be vital in recovering the beast." The boss leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers together. "You may take two operatives to join you. Report when possible. Good luck" he concluded, dismissing him with a nod._

"_Yes, sir" Kepler hissed, as he left the office._

Kepler never got along well with the boss. It's widely assumed the only reason he cooperated with the orders given to him was because it was a chance for him to feed the sadistic personality that lay in wait behind his soulless eyes. Being a measure of last resort, Kepler rarely had such a chance.

Now that the business of the day had been conducted, the boss had time to look into his leisure activity, namely new recruits. An operation such as Team Rocket's needs as many talented agents as it can get its hands on. The boss had a particular one in mind…a boy with a rather enigmatic name…

* * *

Another day of travel brought us to Lavender Town. After we left the Pokémon Center early in the morning, Leaf and I had to work our way through the Rock Tunnel, a sort of cave recently formed by a rock slide and only partially excavated. The safest route led pretty far into the side of the mountain where it was absolutely pitch dark. This is where Maxwell showed off his incredible usefulness; by generating small shockwaves around the surface of his body, Maxwell was able to provide enough light to see by in the tunnel. He had replaced Aporia on the team, at least for now. Trainers were scarce in the Rock Tunnel (I can't imagine anybody would want to stay in a dark confined space longer than necessary) and the team took rotations at point lead to fend off wild Pokémon. Leaf held my hand through most of the journey as I walked ahead, guiding her around the jagged walls while Maxwell rolled along in front of us, keeping up the glow with a mechanical whirring that echoed through the earthy chamber.

Only a few hours of clambering over dark rocks brought us to the other side, where the sun was at high noon, blinding and searing hot. It was one of those days in the autumn that was unnaturally warm, and I only knew what season it was from looking at the red and gold expanse of lightly rustling trees that covered the ground below the mountainous tunnel we had emerged from. I truly had no sense of time on my own anymore. Every day seamlessly melded into the next. I hardly knew how long it has been since I left home…

Maxwell let his whirring cease and his glow diminish. Looking at how the glint of the sun was reflecting off the spherical surface, I wondered how a creature so obviously synthetic could be a living, breathing, thinking organism.

"Thanks so much, Maxwell" I said to our newest team member. The metal ball emitted a happy buzz in response before disappearing back into his Pokéball and being placed back on my belt.

I turned to Leaf whose hand I still had clasped in my own. She was breathing heavily from the tunnel, and shielding her eyes from the sun with her free hand. My cap spared me the need to do the same. She smiled at me when she caught me looking at her, and I could feel a steady blush rising in my face. She must have noticed, because she blushed too. Then we both looked out over the landscape in front of us. We were facing south, and to our left was the sea running along a rockier beach compared to the sandy one we had left at the last Pokémon Center. Rolling hills covered in trees of their mid-autumn foliage led into the distance.

"There it is!" Leaf said excitedly, ripping her hand out of mine and pointing. I could vaguely make out the shape of a tall, grey building amongst the bright trees. Undoubtedly, that was Lavender Town.

Descending down the rocky mountainside and trekking for another hour or so over the wooded hills brought us steadily closer towards the bleak monolith. The contrast was almost painful; the brightly colored trees swarming around the hills in the clear sunlight was far too cheerful a sight to have such a depressing figure as this tower sticking out in the middle of it all. It was almost like an ugly blemish on the landscape, raised ten times higher than the golden treetops; a rude gesture to the bright sky above it.

"It certainly fits what we've heard about this place, huh" I said, to nobody in particular, but knowing that Leaf had heard me. I reviewed everything I knew about Lavender Town in my mind.

It was where dead Pokémon were brought to be buried and laid to rest.

It was where a man named Mr. Fuji served as a spiritual guru to the souls of those Pokémon and their grieving owners.

It was where two of my own Pokémon, Remy and Icarus, were undoubtedly already buried.

_And it was probably where my best-friend-turned-rival Gary was mourning the loss of his own fallen team mate…_

Leaf must have noticed that I had receded into my thoughts. She gently probed for my attention, probably more for my own sake than for hers.

"What do you think we can do we'll do while we're here?" she asked. The answer was obvious, but she asked for the sake of conversation, and I appreciated it.

"I really just want a break from all this gym stuff before we try to get to Celadon, which I guess means we need to find Fuji. And…" my voice cracked just a little "…I want to visit their cemetery."

The trees were thinning out now, and worn footpaths appeared in the dirt, streamlining our approach. Small, simple houses were beginning to appear here and there, and I noticed that we were now close enough to the ominous tower that looking at its peak required me to turn my head straight up. Only a few people were outside, but those that were greeted us with friendly smiles.

_Weird…they must not know who we are. Otherwise they would've reacted…I don't know, more?_

The footpaths became a gentle gray cobblestone road that led into a small town square, directly at the base of the tower. A building that looked a lot like a church was situated in the center of the square, with the cobblestone road sweeping around it in a broad stony circle, houses lining the outer perimeter and the great tower overshadowing it all. If it weren't for the general liveliness of the townsfolk, the setting would have seemed desolate and miserable.

"I suppose there might be a good place to start?" Leaf pointed to the church building. A set of gray steps led up to the large wooden doors. I pushed open one, and she the other. The inside of the church was bathed in a soft orange glow of candlelight, and the scent of oaken wood and flowers filled the air. Wooden benches were arranged facing a podium at the front of the room. Behind it was a circular stained glass window, broken into thirds of blue, yellow and red. Light coming in through the window left the same pattern in the stone floor.

"Wow…" I heard Leaf say from next to me. It was truly a sight, and easily the most beautiful building I had ever been in.

"Hello there" An older woman was seated at one of the benches nearest to us, and our entry had disturbed her solitude. Her hair was a clean white and matched well with the dark housedress and light apron she was wearing. She had turned to us now and spoke in a soothing voice, the kind of a grandmother who hasn't had company in ages.

"Hello ma'am" I answered politely, again remembering how nobody in the town seemed to recognize me, but not bothered by it in the slightest. "We're travelers" I said, gesturing to myself and Leaf as we entered the room and allowed the doors to close behind us.

"Oh, my! How exciting!" A smile formed on her lips and she rose from the bench as we approached. "Not many travelers come through here. Welcome to Lavender Town!" she gestured with her arms around the room. "Is there anything I can do for you while you are here?"

It was Leaf's turn to talk. "We just want to meet Mr. Fuji and ask him about the tunnel he built to Celadon City. My friend here," she put a hand on my shoulder, "is going to challenge the gym there."

"My, you're no ordinary travelers then. You're trainers, aren't you!" the old woman said excitedly, not waiting for either of us to confirm. "Unfortunately, Mr. Fuji is busy at the moment. He said he had an appointment with a few gentlemen, and I'm not quite sure when he will be back. I'm sure he would love to come and meet with you as soon as he is free to. Come with me!" the woman gestured us to follow her and led us around the side of the great room. "My name is Ellie, by the way."

I considered for a moment whether or not I could give Ellie my name, but decided it would be safer if I didn't.

"I'm Red, and this is Leaf" I told Ellie, as she shuffled along into a hall behind the main room with several doors leading to other smaller rooms in the church.

"It's very good to meet you" she said "but such peculiar names…" she mused to herself, opening one of the doors and walking inside, gesturing for us to follow. The new room was, rather surprisingly, filled with baby Pokémon. It looked like a nursery, with small beds, toys and bowls of food lying all around the floor of the room, and dozens of little creatures running around, playing together and squeaking happily.

"Oh my gosh, they're so precious!" Leaf knelt down and took an instant liking to a short brown Pokémon, clumsily walking on two legs and surveying her with beady black eyes.

"Yes they are" said Ellie, closing the door behind us and resting herself in a nearby rocking chair. "This is Mr. Fuji's office!" she said, picking up a small Pokémon at her feet and holding it in her lap. "He's always been a man of generosity, and this is where he keeps Pokémon who don't have a home anywhere else. Lavender Town isn't very well known for having trainers, so many Pokémon end up abandoned here and can't survive in the wild."

Despite never having met him, I gained a great respect for Mr. Fuji at that moment. It was truly the work of a good person to provide care for creatures who didn't have any.

"Of course, he spends a lot of his time in the Tower, putting poor souls to rest and giving what he can to those that have been left behind. It seems that man's every waking moment is to doing good for our world…" Ellie began to rock gently in her chair, and the Pokémon in her lap drifted to sleep instantly, snoring loudly.

"Did you say the Tower?" I asked. "Is that where the cemetery is?"

"Yes, yes" Ellie plopped the sleeping Pokémon on the floor by her feet and took another into her arms. "There wasn't enough room on just the ground after a while. Many creatures perish, and not just those that battle either. The Pokémon Tower is our grounds for the deceased Pokémon that every one of us loses at some point in our lives."

Suddenly the Tower's grim appearance made much more sense. Now that I thought about it, it did look almost like a tombstone by itself.

"I'd like to go there, as soon as I can. There are a few Pokémon I'd like to pay my respects to" I told her, and Ellie frowned as she understood my words.

"I understand, child, but I don't recommend anybody should go in there without Mr. Fuji. Some of those spirits…well, they have not quite been laid to rest yet. Mr. Fuji is a channel for them, a guide to the world they belong to, now that they've passed on."

"I see. Do you know then where the tunnel is? The way to Celadon?" I figured I should get as much information as I could, with Fuji's whereabouts unknown and all.

"Of course! It's just outside of town. There's a shack in the field there that leads underground. Mr. Fuji didn't like the idea of having the tunnel be here, under our church." The Pokémon in Ellie's lap had also succumbed to the rhythmic rocking of her chair and was now dozing soundly.

"Thank you very much, Ellie. May we stay here while we wait for Mr. Fuji to come back? I feel it wouldn't be right to leave when we've just arrived, especially when we haven't met him."

"I insist on it!" Ellie set the other Pokémon down and rose from the chair. "I'll make us some dinner while we wait." As she scuffled to the door, Leaf spoke up.

"Ellie, what's this little guy's name?" The brown Pokémon Leaf had befriended so quickly was now wrestling with her thumb, nipping it occasionally with its small but tiny teeth.

"That's a Cubone, dear. She's a little angel. Her mother was one of Mr. Fuji's first adoptions. Found her abandoned in the woods by her trainer. They've been friends for a very long time, and she patrols the Tower with him sometimes. That's her daughter, born just a week ago." The little Cubone raised its brown head curiously, as if she knew what the subject of the conversation was.

"She's adorable" Leaf said before tickling the Cubone and causing it to giggle and squirm in her arms.

"That she is, dear. I'll be right back with some hot soup for everyone" Ellie said, and she shuffled off into the hall.

I plopped down on the floor next to Leaf and the Cubone in her arms who had gone back to trying to bite her thumb. "You know, Lavender Town really doesn't seem to be as horribly depressing as I thought it would be" I said, putting a hand on the Cubone's soft fuzzy head and scratching it behind the ears.

Leaf smiled at me. "Mr. Fuji can take his time. I could spend forever here."

* * *

Mr. Fuji sat in a solemn, cross-legged pose. His bald head reflected the sunlight coming in through the ceiling of the Pokémon Tower. Bushy white eyebrows sat above his closed eyes in a peaceful expression, his soft friendly face adorned with the shallow scars of time. A dusty yellow apron covered the front of his white shirt and the tops of his brown pants. Fuji wasn't very well dressed for the occasion: after all, he had been rather suddenly and forcibly removed from his home just a short while ago…

Surrounding Fuji were three men whose identities were instantly betrayed by their uniforms; Rockets. One stood at the ladder that led to the lower floors of the tower. The other pair was on either side of Fuji, waiting for the old man to break his trance and cooperate with them.

"We'll be here as long as we need to, Fuji." The Rocket closest to the guru spoke in an authoritative tone, trying to shatter his concentration. "You keep up this cold shoulder act, and I can't guarantee that all those adorable little Pokémon you got in your house are going to be OK, you know what I'm sayin'?"

Fuji remained still and silent. No threat, especially one as empty as that, would cause him to lose his inner peace.

"Alright then, I guess we don't have a choice." The Rocket sighed and motioned to his companion. "Go into the house, bring 'em all up here." The second Rocket gave a firm nod and moved toward the ladder to the lower floors.

This time, Fuji spoke.

"You won't be safe on your own" he spoke slowly, commanding a total attention of the room with his voice, as if the very walls of the tower were waiting for its sound.

"The hell are you talkin' about, old man?" responded the first Rocket. Fuji's words seemed to make him nervous, but he refused to let it show.

Fuji's eyes remained closed. "You came here with me, and so you may not leave without me."

"Crackpot" mumbled the Rocket, and he motioned to the other to continue. The guard Rocket stepped aside and allowed the other to descend down the ladder. Not a single one noticed the frown that had appeared in the wizened man's face.

A few seconds passed in which a heavy unease filled the room. Then a shout erupted from the floor below, followed by the frantic scrambling of the Rocket back up the ladder.

"There's a Pokémon down there!" he yelled. A bloody spot on the side of the man's head grew larger before their eyes. It was the type of injury left behind by a swift strike of a heavy blunt object.

The first Rocket wasted no time. "Go Muk!" he exclaimed, releasing a Pokéball that burst to spill a large puddle of thick purple slime into the room. As a heavy foul stench filled everyone's noses, the puddle bulged at the center, forming a hump that developed large eyes and a gaping mouth on the spot. Fuji remained absolutely still. Not even the awful scent of Muk would break his focus.

There was silence once again as the Rockets waited for another attack. It came in the form of a loud banging all around the room. Beneath the floor, in the walls, above the ceiling, the deafening smacking of something heavy resonated through the tower. Paranoia swept over the Rockets as they turned desperately to find the source of the noise. Then, all too quickly, the floor beneath the Muk's pulsating body collapsed, and the sentient blob careened towards the ceiling, leaving shattered tile and a slime-covered Pokémon in its place. A short brown body standing on two hind legs with tail, notched at the end. In its hand was the instrument of the clanging and the Rocket's head injury; a bone, the color of eggshell, bloodied at one end. The Pokémon's most defining characteristic was its head. Instead of the brown skin covering the rest of its body, the head was the purest resemblance of a bare skull. The off-white color extended from a defined line at the neck over the whole head and into a bony snout with nostrils, a lower jaw, and eye sockets, from which gazed the fearsome brown eyes of a creature fueled by vengeance.

Pieces of the Muk splattered around the room, conglomerating between the newly appeared bone creature and Mr. Fuji. As the gooey mass grew in size, the Pokémon twirled its bone at lightning speed and delivered a forceful strike to the Muk's side, once again breaking it apart.

"Marowak, no!" Fuji couldn't ignore his surroundings any further. He refused to allow a dear friend to place itself in danger on his behalf. "Leave now, don't do this!"

The Marowak ignored the plea, and continued to bash its opponent. The Rockets had recollected their wits about them and were now surrounding the brawl and tried to subdue the bone keeper. Marowak continued to fight vigorously, clubbing the Rockets one-by-one with its bone, knocking them down repeatedly only to do so again. But the battle was growing to be exhausting and Marowak was beginning to slow down and grow weary. It had overestimated its ability to take down three Rockets and their Pokémon in an effort to rescue its kidnapped friend. Eventually, one of the Rockets managed to pry the bone out of its grasp, and another tackled the Marowak to the floor, pinning it down.

"I see" said the first Rocket. "Calling on your friends for some help, eh? Is that what you were doing all this time?" The Rocket chuckled maliciously and wiped the blood from his face, revealing the set of bruises the bout with the Marowak had given him. "I suppose we should finish this. No more distractions."

At that point, the Muk had once again reformed itself and was approaching its pinned target. Marowak struggled against its restraint but was far too exhausted to shift the weight of the Rocket on top of it enough to escape.

"Gunk Shot" commanded the Rocket. Muk blasted a piece of its torso at the Marowak, sticking its free arm to the floor. The other Rocket stood and backed up, sadistically eager to see what was about to happen. The Muk repeated its Gunk Shot, this time pinning the other arm, leaving Marowak completely bound.

Fuji's brow furrowed. He knew he was in absolutely no position to help. He did the only thing he knew he could.

As the Muk approached, Fuji closed his eyes once more, and began to pray rapidly under his breath.

"O Mightiest of creatures, lord of creation, father of all that lives, human and Pokémon alike…"

Muk was now on inches from its prey. Marowak was beginning to suffocate under the intensity of the creature's stench.

"…please take this poor soul to your kingdom, where she may live, in happiness and in health…"

The Muk's body made contact with Marowak's. The highly concentrated toxicity of the acid that composed its body began to dissolve the skin almost immediately, and the Marowak let out a bone-chilling shriek of pain.

"…may she be with you, in rest and in light, in your beloved brilliance..."

Muk continued to consume the Marowak with its caustic body, eventually muffling its shrieks. The process was slow and arduous, both to observe and to hear, but Fuji screwed his eyes shut tighter and continued.

"…may she always be remembered and loved. Let her be laid to rest now, may her soul be brought sleep. May she rest in peace."

Fuji had recited the prayer he gave before every burial he performed. As a spiritual man, it was the most he felt could be done for any creature; alive, dead or dying. As the Muk's body tore apart Marowak's by every fiber and sinew, the shrieking subsided to silence as the creature's soul left what remained of its body.

Without a word, the Rocket called back his Pokémon, and the gelatinous mass disappeared, leaving behind only the empty bones of Fuji's dearest friend. The skull lay facing him, its sockets now empty and dark.

Fuji opened his eyes, and allowed them to make contact with the emptiness within the skull. A tear slid down his face, through the crevices of his wrinkles and down onto the floor. Uncrossing his legs, Mr. Fuji crawled slowly towards Marowak's remains, still seething with the remainders of the acid that tried to consume them. Carefully, he raised the skull and held it against his chest, rocking and sobbing mournfully.

"I'm sorry…" he said in a whisper. "I'm so sorry…I will care for her, I promise…rest in peace, my friend…"

Fuji resumed his cross-legged pose, resting the skull in his lap, and once again closing his eyes.

The Rocket had had enough of the theatricality. "Hey, Gramps. You goin' to talk to us now or what?" To emphasize the question, he delivered a forceful kick to Fuji's side, knocking the man over and causing the skull to hit the floor.

Fuji panted in pain and reached for the fallen bone. "You have…made…a very grave...mistake…" he said between breaths. All at once, the room dimmed as if the sun had been blotted out. All of the warmth from the room was sucked out and replaced with an icy chill. White fog bubbled up from the lower floors of the tower, moving slowly over the floor and filling the room. The Rockets looked to each other frantically, confused and fearful of the sudden change. Fuji lifted his body from the ground and opened his eyes once more, their original soft blue color now replaced by a familiar shade of dark brown.

A screech echoed through the walls of the tower as another icy chill, the kind that makes you cold to the very bone, swept over the room.

"May there be mercy on your souls"

* * *

Ellie came crashing back into the room, startling everybody and waking the baby Pokémon she had put to sleep, causing them to wail in protest. The lack of color in her face and her frantic expression made it plainly obvious that something was wrong.

"You need to leave" she said, all the cheerful liveliness of her voice gone. "The spirits have been angered; it's not safe here anymore."

I leapt up from the floor. I wasn't a superstitious person and though I believed in the idea of spirits to some extent, I didn't seem them as the dangerous and evil beings that others frequently seemed to. But something about Ellie's words had caused me to reconsider.

"What happened? What do we do?" I helped Leaf up from the floor. She was still holding the baby Cubone in her arms, which now looked very frightened and clutched the front of her shirt in fear.

Ellie didn't answer my question about what had happened. Instead she rushed us out of the room and ferried us back to the front of the church which seemed much dimmer than when we had entered. "Go out, move west, find the tunnel and leave. Don't come back, it isn't safe anymore." She hugged us both and took the Cubone from Leaf's arms while it protested loudly.

"Good luck, travelers" she said to us. "Maybe you can come back one day when it's safe again." We were pushed out the door and into the town square. Almost as if we were in sync, Leaf and I both took off as soon as our feet hit the cobblestone. We didn't need to understand why; the fear put into us by the old woman was enough. But after a few hurried paces down the streets, I began to wonder what exactly we were running from, and whether it couldn't be helped.

I stopped and turned, facing the church we had just left and the dark tower looming over it. The top of the tower seemed distorted and wavy, as if it were a mirage, and fog leaked out of the small windows at every floor, floating to the ground and covering it in a sheet.

"Spirits can't do that…" I thought out loud. Leaf heard me and also stopped running, standing by me and also observing the tower's bizarre behavior. She opened her mouth to say something, but was silenced by another, much louder sound; an unearthly wail vibrated through the air. It was the kind of sound that makes your blood run cold just thinking of what kind of miserable creature could scream like that.

"Something's going on up there, and it sounds like somebody is in trouble." My mind made up, I clicked a Pokéball from my waist. "I'm going in."

As I broke into a sprint, I could hear Leaf's shout behind me ("Damn it, Mike!") but I was determined to stop whatever was going on in the tower. I lapped around the church to get the base of the tower, running past people who were all hurrying to their homes and slamming their doors and windows. The tower's entrance was a pair of tall black metal doors with curved designs in a raised pattern on the surface. They didn't seem like the types of doors I could just rush through.

"Saphira, get us inside!" I yelled, cracking the ball in my palm open and releasing the Pokémon that had recently become one of my most powerful. The blue serpent uncoiled from the tiny space of the ball and let out a roar to match the wail that had been getting louder as we approached. The Gyarados I had released rammed her head into the doors of the tower, first denting them, then knocking them inward. She slithered inside and I followed.

The bottom floor of the tower didn't seem like much of a burial ground. It looked more like a hotel lobby, complete with couches, a carpet and an empty reception desk. Stairs on either side of the round room led to the floors above. The room was decorated in gloomy blues, blacks and purples.

"Is anybody in here?" I yelled, half-expecting a response and half-dreading what it would mean if none came. A young woman appeared from under the reception desk, pale and shivering. Disheveled locks of dark hair fell over her wide-eyed expression.

"Help!" she called back to me. "It's the ghosts, something set th – "

Her words were cut short by a horrifying sight. A pair of dark purple hands rose behind her shoulders and pulled her back under the desk, where she let out a blood-curdling scream. I took a step forward to help her, but my legs froze. A wave of cold swept through the room, followed shortly by a fog that trickled down the stairs. The wailing at the top of the tower ceased, and I felt as if all my senses had been taken from me. The only feeling left was that an icy cold hand was wrapping around my heart, slowing down its beating and letting the fog seep into my brain…

"Saphira, attack!" I yelled. But with the same sensations overcoming her as me, and with the lack of a physical target, Saphira was just as paralyzed as I was. I could just barely see the glazed look in her eyes before the darkness consumed us entirely…

"Will 'O' Wisp!"

The sound of Leaf's voice tore through the silence just a second before the blazing spheres of blue fire pushed away the darkness. The fog covering the floor receded and crawled back up the stairs, and the new source of light put the shadows back on the walls where they belonged. I felt Leaf grab my hand and press the button on the ball that pulled Saphira back inside, then she forcefully dragged me out the doors of the tower. When the blood began to flow again and I could move my legs, I relieved her of my weight and we both took off again, this time knowing why we were running in the first place.

"How about next time you don't try to be the hero!" she yelled at me as we raced west out of town, the Vulpix that saved our lives riding along draped on her shoulders.

"I didn't know!" I yelled back.

"That's why you need to listen! She told us something bad was happening and you ran right for the source of the trouble!" A gust of wind blasted down the streets radiating from the town square, undoubtedly because of whatever was happening in the tower. Fortunately for us, the wind gave us more momentum to speed out over the cobblestone road before it turned back into a worn footpath. I was thankful for the lack of pain in my sides during our current sprint, and hoped I could refrain from any further rib injuries; running seemed to be a more and more frequent activity for us now.

We arrived at the fields that Ellie had told us about, and we both scoured the horizon for any sign of the shack that housed the entrance to the underground tunnel. The wind was picking up, howling and tearing leaves off the trees behind us, swirling them into the sky in a flurry of golden colors.

"I see it!" Leaf yelled, pointing straight ahead of us and slightly to the right. Sure enough, there was a small building there, and we broke into a run again. I looked over my shoulder again, and only the ominous tower was visible rising off the trees being stripped naked by the wind.

"Leaf, I don't care what you think; we're going to go back and help them." The guilt I felt in my heart for running from danger was weighing me down enough that I felt I was actually running slower because of it.

"Let's help ourselves first. Then we'll figure out what the hell we're helping them from in the first place."

The wind was creating waves in the grass that raced as we ran through them approaching the shack. It looked like a short cube-shaped house, not nearly as small as I expected it to be. There were no discernible features on it other than that its solid brick foundation remained absolutely still in the forceful wind that sent everything around it flying.

I reached the shack first and tried to open the door, stubbornly resisting because of the wind. Finally when the hinges gave way, the door flew open and the both of us rushed in. Just like on the outside, the inside looked very plain. The only real feature was a wide set of stairs leading directly into the ground. Closing the door instantly silenced the howling of the wind, and Leaf and I collapsed onto the floor, exhausted yet again.

"You did great, Feu" I heard her say, and her Vulpix yawned a response before being sucked back into her ball.

We sat in silence, resting the hearts pounding in our chests and staring at the entrance to the tunnel, neither of us eager to go underground again.

"When are we going to stop running?" I asked her, not quite sure why I would voice such a stupid question. I felt ashamed of the cowardice that I displayed in running from a town being overrun by spirits. It was the same cowardice that caused me to run from the Vermillion Gym and left a man burning inside, not caring whether he was dead or alive.

Surprisingly, Leaf acknowledged my stupid question.

"Until there's nothing left to run from" she said solemnly.

I didn't like the answer. It was too defeatist, too resigned, too depressing. Instead, I gave my own.

"Or until we have the strength to turn around."

* * *

**I wanted to get the Lavender Town chapter up in time for Halloween, so here it is! I hope you liked it, and remember, now matter how busy I get or how long I go without updating, I WILL finish this story. You guys have my word on that.**

**And don't worry, this isn't the last time we'll see Lavender Town...DUN DUN DUN**

Happy Halloween!  



	20. Big Trouble in Little Celadon, Part 1

Chapter 20: Big Trouble in Little Celadon, Part 1  
(Welcome to the Jungle)

"I got it!" Oak exclaimed, startling the snoozing Professor Elm next to him into an alarmed wakefulness.

"Got what?" Elm asked, dropping to his knees to find the glasses that were knocked from his face at the rude awakening.

Oak enlarged a window on his computer screen, a wall of text consuming the monitor. "It's a manifest of the research body at the Cinnabar lab before the explosion; names of everybody who was even marginally involved in the project." Elm found his glasses and replaced them on his face. The lenses reflected the bright image on the screen as Oak enthusiastically scrolled through the lines of text.

"How did it take you so long to find it?" Elm asked, quickly scanning the wall of unfamiliar names.

"It was pretty well buried. The project was highly confidential and pretty old. It must have started at least a decade ago." Oak suddenly stopped scrolling. The document had stopped listing names and was now listing dates, a sort of timeline of the project's existence.

"Wow…look at this" he said.

Elm was already looking. The project started with what the document described as "recovery of ancestral genomic data from remote region" dated over 10 years ago, followed by an incredibly long list of "cloning trials". Each date was followed by a capital F, indicating failure. After half a page of failed trials, some began to appear with notes on success. The professors took turns reading the notes.

"_Specimen displays warped but stable anatomy. Severely disabled cognition and motor function. Euthanized_."

"_Specimen developed rapidly but incompletely. Several anatomical structures missing or damaged. Euthanized_."

"_First successful attempt at accurate and stable anatomy. Specimen appears to suffer debilitating pain but retains cognitive function. Euthanized_."

The list went on, longer than the list of the failed trials. These partial successes appeared on the manifest spaced by just a few days each. Until eventually…

"_Recovered specimen exceeds all expectations. Highly developed and stable anatomy, cognitive functions beyond those of original specimen. Euthanized after 16 hours for destroying lab equipment and injuring personnel. Arrangements made for cloning of ancestral genomic complex_."

And shortly after…

"_Funding cut. Decision made to continue project, relying on private investments_."

The manifest continued, detailing the attempts of cloning whatever it is the researchers had found on their expedition. Between the trials were incidents of damaged equipment, injured scientists, and after a while, resignations. The names at the top of the manifest were reappearing, one-by-one abandoning the project. Through it all, the same words continued to appear, hundreds of times.

_Unstable. _

_Failed. _

_Euthanized._

The professors were silent for several minutes. It went without saying between the two of them that they had stumbled upon something that was well-hidden for good reason.

"Whoever was funding them was ashamed of what they were doing. Creating abominations and killing them when they weren't up to snuff." Elm shuddered at the thought. "This is far beyond anything I thought was possible."

Oak didn't say a word. He knew exactly what he had found. It was an answer to questions he had been asking since the explosion that destroyed the laboratory. Questions he had been asking since Red collapsed on the floor of his bedroom and again aboard the ship.

"Oak, do you realize what this is? They _made _something! It took them a thousand tries but they finally _made_ something!" Elm shook his colleague by the shoulders, trying to get him to speak. When Oak finally did, his words echoed through the room with an ominous timbre.

"And whatever they made broke out."

* * *

The decision to take our first steps into the tunnel before us and leave Lavender Town behind, completely overrun now by the shadow of vengeful spirits, was not the easiest I've ever made. The easiest decision I've ever made was to come back.

We didn't leave right away. There were several hours of staring up at the bleak monolith of Pokémon Tower, now ominously back dropped against the dark stormy sky behind it, before we decided there was nothing we could do. During those several hours, we ran into Primo, the newest addition to our group. The little Growlithe rolled underfoot in the tall grass due to the heavy winds radiating from the Tower, unable to stand on its own four paws. Exhausted from battling the high speed gusts, it took almost no effort to snag the creature in a Pokéball, and add it to the collection. Once we retook solace in the hut that housed the entrance to the underground tunnel, I let Primo out of his ball, and watched him collapse immediately, his orange furry body splaying out on the floor.

"Hey, now we both have a Fire type!" Leaf said, releasing her Vulpix as well so the two Pokémon could acquaint with each other. It was obvious from the Growlithe's immediate reaction to a well-groomed feminine Vulpix that it was male, and I thought of a name while the two playfully nuzzled each other. I decided to swap Primo for Maxwell on my current rotation along my belt, and stowed the other Pokéball into the bag on my shoulders.

"Hey Primo" I addressed the new Pokémon "Do you think you can give us some light in the tunnel?" The Growlithe sat down and cocked his head to one side. Feu did the same next to him, mimicking the motion almost exactly.

"Feu, show him what Mike means" Leaf helped out. Feu opened her mouth and formed a single orb of blue fire, letting it hover on the tip of her nose. If Primo wasn't head-over-heels for Feu before, he was now. Immediately, trying to impress the fox Pokémon, Pirmo opened his mouth wide and peppered the floor with glowing orange embers. They gave off a substantial light, but were definitely less than Feu's Will-o-Wisp.

"It's alright, they can work together" I said, rising up while the two Pokémon returned their attention to each other. I was never aware that Pokémon could blush, but I couldn't think of what else Feu was trying to hide behind her six bushy tails when Primo surrounded her in a glowing circle of orange light with his embers.

"Awww…" Leaf let out unconsciously, and I caught the traces of a blush on her face as well, just before she was able to pretend there wasn't any such sign. She shouldered her pack. "Ready to go?"

As we descended the stairs, the two Pokémon ran ahead, supplying their respective light sources and courting each other simultaneously. It was cute to watch, but as the darkness of the tunnel began to close in and the thoughts of Lavender Town's fate fresh on my mind, I couldn't say I felt much in terms of positive emotions. Despite the two fire Pokémon lighting our path with their respective flames, I'd never felt colder inside. I felt Leaf's hand find mine in the dim light and turned to see her smile at me. She didn't speak, but in my mind I could hear her say "Things aren't really as dark as this tunnel. Remember, there's always light at the end."

I pulled myself from my thoughts just in time to smile back at her, and break the silence between us as I turned my gaze back to the two Fire type Pokémon in front of us.

"Why do you think so many Gym Leaders choose to specialize in one type? It seems a bit…I don't know, _limiting_" I asked her while simultaneously asking myself which type I would choose if I had to specialize in one. None came to mind.

"A lot of reasons, I'm sure. Maybe they feel they have something in common with them, like Misty and her Water types. Or maybe they find them the easiest to train for whatever reason. Or maybe they're just the ones that they like the most. They could all have their own reasons, the Elite Four too, probably."

I nodded, agreeing with her. "I can see that, but it doesn't really make sense from a tactical point of view, you know? I mean, look at Lance. He specialized with Dragons, and they were all weak to each one of Lorelei's Pokémon and it cost him his championship. If he had one Fire type with him, he would've won."

"Maybe they like the challenge of it" Leaf said. "Maybe that's why Surge and his Electric types are so close to Digglett Cave, and why Lance went up against Lorelei's Ice types. Maybe they want the challenge of taking down their greatest weaknesses, and the thrill of overcoming that challenge. After all, that's what being a trainer is all about in the end, isn't it?" She gave my hand a squeeze, and I squeezed back. It's amazing how she always knew exactly what to say.

The walk through the tunnel was shorter than the previous, for whatever reason; we were able to walk the whole length of it without stopping to rest. As we approached the end of it, the air in the tunnel became noticeably colder, and I could hear Leaf's teeth begin to chatter. Primo was having a hard time maintaining his embers, which were extinguished immediately upon touching the cold dirt of the tunnel floor. Feu's wisp had no such problem, hovering over our heads and illuminating the path in front, revealing a cluster of dark shapes at the end of its light.

"What do you think those are?" I asked Leaf, pointing to the figures ahead of us and picking up the faintest sounds of conversation.

"I c-c-can't t-tell…P-P-Pokémon, maybe?" she answered through her own chattering, her hands wrapped around herself in an effort to preserve warmth.

As we approached, the lines around the figures solidified, and their shapes became more defined. I began to distinguish the words of the conversations, such as "thank you" and "feeling better".

"They sound like…peop-OW!" Before I managed to get the last word out, I ran face-first into an invisible wall and fell backwards onto the ground. My hand flew up to cover my nose, which felt flattened by the impact, but there was no sensation of bleeding or breakage. Leaf was just a step short of running into the barrier herself, but stopped and kneeled to examine my nose instead, saving herself an identical injury.

The conversation on the other side of the wall stopped immediately, and a loud peal of a high-pitched voice took their place, yelling "MIME" repeatedly, as if to attract attention. Accompanying the sound, I saw through the barrier a short, spindly-limbed humanoid creature with a pale spherical head facing us with a look of fear, and holding its wide hands up and toward us, as if maintaining the wall that separated it from the intruders. It was this creature that was yelling now, and the people leaning against the tunnel wall shrank back into the darkness. Primo and Feu both gave squeaks of fright in response to the appearance of this new creature, and both of their respective lights went out, leaving only a dim purple aura emanating from the hands of the mime.

"Identify yourselves!" came the deep voice of a large man in a brown coat approaching us from behind the mime. "Who are you, why are you here, and how do you know about this tunnel?" The large man was now standing side-by-side with the mime, his massive arms crossed over his chest. As he waited for a response, his bearded jaw fiddled with a small toothpick sticking out of the corner of his mouth.

The man's appearance was intimidating, and it was all the incentive we needed to answer him. My reply came so hurriedly that I hadn't even bothered to come up with a false story.

"I'm Red, I'm here to get into Celadon City and defeat its gym leader, and Henry told us about the tunnel"

I could see the man raise an eyebrow in suspicion, but asked no further questions. He uncrossed his arms and snapped once. The mime at his side instantly dropped the barrier and the glow in the tunnel went out.

"Feu!" Leaf cried in the darkness, and the light was restored by the now-familiar floating Wisp. Unsure of what was about to happen to us, I called Primo back into his ball and stowed it on my belt. Soon, the silence caused by our intrusion was dissipated, and the conversations of the people behind the man and his mime rekindled, with my name now the central subject of most of them.

"You sure know how to make appearances, don't you, kid…" The man introduced himself as Greg, the person Henry had told us we should be aware of when we came to Celadon. He allowed us to follow him a few paces farther into the tunnel, where the walls widened to form a cavernous room, nearly filled by all manner of people, mostly men. They were all dressed as if they had come back from a party, all in suits, slacks and ties. Most sat on the ground, around the perimeter of the room. A few who looked violently ill lay in the middle, being frantically tended to by the pale mime.

"That's Marcel." Greg nodded to his psychic Pokémon. I noticed the Pokémon removing soiled bandages from the patients and applying clean linens. Even in the dim light of Feu's wisp, I could see that their wounds were deep and horribly discolored. The men's foreheads were glistening with sweat and their dry lips couldn't hold back moans of pain when the white bandages were pressed against their cuts.

Leaf was horrified. "What happened to them? Are they going to be ok?" She quickly removed her sack and began to frantically unload it, tossing aside everything that wasn't medicine. "Will any of this help them?" she asked Greg, pointing to the several bottles she managed to unpack.

"Potions won't do much good for them, miss. They're poisoned. If you have an Antidote in there someplace, that'll likely do the trick." Greg took a rag from the inside of his brown coat and began to methodically remove the sweat from the men.

"I have Antidotes! I have plenty!" I exclaimed, realizing that I also had a pack full of all of our travel supplies. I dumped everything out onto the cave floor and found five full bottles of the stuff. Marcel levitated them from the ground and over in front of him, then removed the bandages on his patients and liberally applied the purple spray. This time, the moans of pain were replaced with sighs of relief, as the medicine soothed the burning pain of the venom coursing through their blood. Within minutes, several of them were able to sit up, and the men sitting around the rest of the room started a light applause at the sight of their friends' recoveries.

Oddly, Greg didn't seem at all relieved by the fortunate turn of events. The large man simply spit out his toothpick into the floor and harrumphed before saying "Well, at least you're good for something."

I chose not to ask him what he meant. For whatever reason, this man clearly had a problem with me, and I didn't want to engage someone three times my size.

"What happened, sir?" I asked as politely as possible. "Why are you here? Why couldn't you just take them to the hospital?"

Greg plopped down on the tunnel floor and removed a thick cigar from another coat pocket. He handed it to Leaf, who stared at it confused.

"It's rude to use other people's Pokémon without their permission" he said. Leaf suddenly understood, and called her Vulpix over who had been entertaining a group of older gentleman with her wisp.

"Feu, could you light this for Mr. Greg?" Feu was curious about the cigar and sniffed it, before giving a high-pitched sneeze and unintentionally lighting the end.

"Thanks Feu," Greg said, stuffing the cigar into his mouth and puffing on it a couple of times. Finally he gestured for me and Leaf to sit across from him, and we did.

"Celadon is under attack" he said. He let the words hang in the air while he puffed on the cigar a few more times, and then continued. "Last night, my casino was attacked by two mercenaries. One of 'em loosed Golbats on my patrons, and as you can see, they've been having a hard time fighting off the poison. Thanks for tha', I guess…" he added, unimpressed.

Leaf was ready to fire off another round of questions, but Greg raised a beefy hand to silence her and continued.

"I know yer thinkin' why does my Game Corner being put under fire mean that the city is under attack, but you listen to me; I've known this was gonna happen for some time now."

I could hear the conversations in the background subside as the other men started to listen to Greg's story as well. Even Feu sat next to Leaf and raised the wisp to hover above us, illuminating most of the tunnel's room.

"I bought the Game Corner from another man a long time ago, almost 10 years. He told me that there was something he was leaving behind, and one day he was gonna need it back. He told me when that day came, I'd better not get in his way. Well, yesterday was that day. His goons came in, shot up the place and sent us running for our lives." Greg gave a deep inhale, popped the cigar from his mouth and let a plume of smoke billow out.

"Why does that mean that Celadon is under attack?" Leaf was finally allowed to ask.

"Men like him don't want cheap casinos, miss. Men like him want the world."

I had to say, between the dark setting, the bass voice, and the clouds of cigar smoke, Greg was quite the story teller.

"Who was he?" I asked.

"Someone who don't want his name known by nobody. Always used a codename, like he was a spy or a mob boss or somethin'. Anyway, yesterday he sent me a message to stay out of his plans. Pretty soon, everythin is gonna be under his control, and his troops will be running everythin' more ragged than it already is."

"His troops? You mean the mercenaries?"

Greg gave a sigh and looked up, staring me straight in the eyes. "Y'ever heard of Rockets, son?"

Suddenly, the illusion of the story fell apart, and I looked over at Leaf to see if she shared in my sentiment.

_ Rockets? Like, Team Rocket? _Our eyes seemed to say to each other. _Those clowns who commit petty theft and can't even beat kids like us in a Pokémon battle?_

Greg caught that there was some unspoken communication going on between us, and he didn't like it. "You have somethin' to say?"

"No disrespect, sir" Leaf started "but we've run into Team Rocket a couple of times, and they didn't seem like much of a threat. They're just minor thieves. Incompetent. Laughable, even."

I could see Greg's face turn red, but I couldn't tell if it was in anger or in embarrassment. I had to agree with Leaf; in my experience, nothing was less intimidating than Team Rocket.

* * *

"Now William, don't make this difficult." Kepler paced the inside of Bill's cottage lazily, eyeing the object of his interrogation with a dark gaze.

Bill's eyes returned the gaze, lit with fury. This ominous-looking man had entered his house uninvited and unexpected just a few minutes earlier. Bill had never seen him before in his life, but knew the dark-haired man was someone to be careful with.

"I'm not being difficult, I'm being logical. Who do you think you are, to come into my home, demand access to a one-of-a-kind device without introduction or explanation, and threaten me when I don't comply?"

Kepler's pale face formed into a frown. His next words seeped from his mouth like a toxic cloud.

"I suppose, when you put it that way…I didn't make myself quite _clear…_"

With a click, Kepler's only Pokéball burst open, releasing a monster with as evil a reputation as its master. The thick, purple snake uncoiled from its confinement and reared its large ugly head at Bill. A deafening hiss filled the room as the Pokémon unfurled its hood, decorated with black, red, and yellow patterns, giving the appearance of an extra set of tremendous eyes staring down its prey.

"Bind…" Kepler said, a malicious smile spreading over his face.

In a flash, Bill was on the floor, wrestling with the giant snake. It was futile; within seconds, the serpent's body had wrapped itself around him and threatened to crush his ribs if he struggled.

"Now, let me ask you again…" Kepler drawled, approaching Bill, who struggled to breathe through the massive coils encircling his body. "…where is the Silph Scope?"

* * *

**I know I've been gone for a while (almost 3 months? Yeesh...). I've had a lot going on and it was hard to find time to write. This was a short chapter, just for me to get back onto a comfortable schedule.**

It's good to be back.


	21. Big Trouble in Little Celadon, Part 2

Chapter 21: Big Trouble in Little Celadon, Part 2  
(High Stakes Stakeout)

Briggs was growing irritated. Kepler had been inside the cabin for a very long time, interrogating Bill. Torturing him, more likely than not. Briggs hated waiting. Especially when he had to be so close to the sea. Briggs _hated _the sea.

He stood now, leaning against the door to the cabin, the cold, salty air blowing past his massive frame. Phaeton was a yard or so away, sitting on a rock, his dark cloak just barely reaching the grass that waved in the wind. He whittled while he waited, deftly handling a short, curved blade that looked very much like a large claw, peeling away strips of wood from a block and slowly revealing the figure whose shape it would soon take.

"You'll never finish that thing." Briggs' voice broke the silence between them, a low grumble. It carried the heavy sound of a threat, even when none was intended. "I've known you a year, Phaeton. You always carry it, you always work on it, you never finish it." Briggs uncrossed the large arms that were over his chest, and gestured with a sausage-like finger to the wooden sculpture in his companion's hand. "What's it supposed to be anyway?"

Phaeton worked on. He didn't lift his head or open his mouth. His fingers continued to whittle, unperturbed by the personal intrusion. A year of working together was hardly incentive to share information about oneself, especially with an oaf like Briggs.

A whisper of cold wind blew past. Briggs shivered. Winter was coming, soon it would start to snow. Briggs _hated_ the snow.

A knock came from the door he leaned on.

"We're done here" came the sound of Kepler's drawl from behind the wood.

Briggs stepped aside, allowing the knob to turn and the door to open outward. Kepler's boots crunched as they pressed into the grass and his eyes immediately fell to Phaeton whittling on the rock.

"Why don't you throw that garbage away, and carry something valuable in your hands instead?" Kepler's volume increased as the sentence came to its end. The whittling angered him. It was pointless work.

Phaeton's knife immediately stopped its rhythmic stripping of the wooden block, and was sheathed in a flash. The half-finished statuette was pocketed, and without looking up, Phaeton outstretched his hand palm-up. He felt the weight of a cold, metal cylinder fall into his hand, and his deft fingers instinctively closed around it.

"The Silph Scope" Briggs breathed. Kepler nodded.

"Just one step closer."

Phaeton examined the device. It resembled a flashlight, with a lens instead of a bulb at one end. The metal felt painfully cold in the winter air, and Phaeton pocketed the Scope before addressing his superior.

"And what of the Master Ball?"

Kepler's dark eyes locked eyes with the subordinate's icy blue ones. "A myth, apparently. William claims no such device was ever built." Kepler didn't sound convinced. Phaeton definitely wasn't.

Briggs shrugged at the news. "It makes sense. Silph would've mass-produced it if it did exist, or at least advertised it if there was only one. A ball that catches anything without fail?" The large man scoffed. "Almost as believable as those Pokémon of legendary power."

In a flash, Kepler unlocked his eyes from Phaeton and attacked the heavier man behind him. In the blink of an eye, Briggs was pressed against the wall of the cottage, his commanding officer's bony elbow pushing dangerously into his throat, as if he were being constricted by the Arbok that Kepler carried around his belt.

Kepler hissed, his fury breaking through his teeth like a potent venom. "You don't believe in the legendary Pokémon? Have you _forgotten _what we're _**hunting**_**?!**" Briggs gasped for air, his hands flying to his throat and desperately trying to pry off Kepler's icy fingers.

"If I hear any words of doubt about the beasts strength from your filthy mouth again…" Kepler pressed harder. Briggs' face was beginning to turn blue. "…then I will make personally sure that it rips apart every fiber in your worthless body."

Briggs fell to the ground on his palms, coughing and sputtering. Kepler breathed heavily, then turned back to Phaeton, who had quietly drawn his whittling knife to arm himself in the event that Kepler had redirected his rage elsewhere. There was a pause as Briggs regained his breath and the burning in his throat subsided.

"We're going to Celadon" Kepler said ominously. "The boss will be waiting."

As the trio walked away, their cloaks whipping around the in the wind, Phaeton glanced through the window of Bill's cottage. The man's crumpled body lay inside. Phaeton looked inside long enough to see Bill's chest rise, drawing breath. Once he saw Bill was alive, Phaeton released his grip on the hilt of his short knife. His icy blue gaze followed the path of his commanding officer and the larger man beside him, still struggling to breathe normally through the frosty air.

_Kepler hasn't crossed the line just yet...but I'll be ready when he does._

* * *

Leaf and I stepped up the creaking wooden stairs that led us out of the tunnel and into the basement of an apartment building. Greg followed behind us, guiding us up the stairs. Marcel the Mr. Mime and the game corner patrons who were attacked stayed in the safety of the cavernous room below. Greg had decided to show us the state of Celadon for ourselves, and we offered to help where we could.

As we ascended the stairs, Greg spoke to us from behind. "Hangin' out on street level ain't the best idea right now. I'm takin' you to my apartment, quiet and out of the way."

The apartment building seemed to be in rather poor condition. Rusted, peeled, broken, and generally dilapidated in every sense of the word. Graffiti overlapped with itself on the stony walls, whose layers of paint are long gone and likely not soon returning. The rails of the stairs were splotched and crusty with patches of rust that flaked and fell apart at the touch. _Damn, even the _rust _is old_…Greg noticed my looking around and chose to comment. "It ain't no 5-star hotel, son. I'd even say that little cave we got goin' on below gives better living conditions than this place."

The stairs we climbed continued to spiral upwards. Several times, I noticed Leaf visibly disgusted and horrified at the state of the place. "This…this is worse than a prison…" she said.

"Aye", Greg responded "That much is true, and don't I know it."

"How can people _live_ here?" she asked.

Greg's only response was a shrug.

The rest of our climb was silent. We reached a door, finally, marked as A704, into whose grimy lock Greg slid a matching key, and pushed the door inward on its hinges. Surprisingly, the inside of his apartment was much more pleasing to the eye than the stairwell of the building in which it was located. Not lavish, but tidy. Greg indicated with a beefy finger to a pair of chairs by a table, one spindly and wooden, the other a large and cushioned armchair.

"It's alright, I'll stand" I said, when Leaf looked at me quizzically, wondering which of the two of us would take the wooden chair, as Greg had already dropped his massive body into the other.

"So why did you want to come up here anyway?" he said, half grumbling.

"We want to help" Leaf and I both responded at once, almost as if one voice.

Greg seemed amused by our response. "And how in the world do you think you can help." It wasn't a question.

"We're trainers, skilled ones too. We can help you take back your Game Corner, and then clean up the rest of the city of the Rockets" I said. I felt awkward commenting on the situation, since I only had the bare minimum amount of knowledge about what was actually going on with the villainous gang. It felt even more awkward calling myself a skilled trainer, but I knew that I had to convince Greg that it was true, or my journey would have ended right there in the dilapidated apartment building in Celadon City.

Greg seemed to consider my offer. "What do you got with ya?" he said, gesturing toward my belt lined with Pokéballs.

I had to think about it. I wasn't really keeping track of who was with me and who wasn't, but after a few seconds of retracing my captures, I remembered. "An Ivysaur, a Butterfree, a Golbat, a Gyarados, a Diglett and a Growlithe".

"Not bad." He said, nodding slightly. "And you?" he said, turning to Leaf.

"Wartortle, Vulpix, Eevee, and Spearow" Leaf said nervously, almost too quickly. "He's far better than I am" she added, pointing to me. "He has Badges to prove it!"

The comment seemed to agitate Greg, as if it were insulting. "Let me make something really clear to ye both" he leaned forward in his chair. "Your badges don't count for nothin'."

An uncomfortable pause followed.

"How…I…what do you mean?" I said, losing my composure. _I worked hard for these; I'm not going to let some fat oaf tell me they're meaningless_.

"How'd you get them badges, boy? You won 'em, right? Yer first gym battle nobody even saw, so we don't know how good you was or whether ya even earned it. Yer second was against some girly who doesn't know the first thing about Pokémon. And yer last one nearly killed a man. You don't even got a badge from Surge, do ya..."

I felt myself breaking out in cold sweat.

"The gym badges are symbols of a trainer's strength. They're prizes for passing tests of power, of your will. You win them through perseverance 'n' fortitude, not by attacking your challenger, or by going up against someone with less experience than you. All your victories are flukes, so them badges pinned to your jacket don't mean a thing."

I was growing mad at his accusations. Not because they were offensive, but because they were true.

"You didn't win 'em right, boy, so yer badges don't mean nothin'."

That did it. Before I could lash out and do something I would regret, I left. I turned out of that room and walked right out the door, slamming it behind me. I heard Leaf call after me only after the door crashed closed behind me. I didn't go back into the tunnel. I couldn't even if I tried; the stairs were far too well hidden. Instead, having nowhere else to go, I went into the snowy streets of Celadon.

* * *

Bill slowly regained consciousness. The world blinked back into existence, and the interior of his cabin materialized around him through the fog of venom that was being filtered from his blood.

_I'm lucky to be alive_ he thought.

Kepler's interrogation of Bill ended only partially successful. The Silph Scope was gone, but Bill had managed to protect a far more valuable item.

Bill rose from the ground and stumbled over to his desk. The drawer he kept the Silph Scope in used to be locked, but not anymore. The lock itself lay on the floor, pierced through the middle with a single enormous fang, damaging the interior mechanism beyond any repair. Bill picked up what remained of the lock. The metal was hot to the touch, as if the acid of the Arbok's venom literally burned it.

_I'm VERY lucky to be alive_ Bill reconsidered. _But now it's time to put that life to good use and fix this all._

Bill turned his attention to the computer. The monitor flashed to life from its sleep mode, awakening on the last screen Bill was on, before the Rocket intrusion. The screen was a spreadsheet of DNA markers of the Eevee species, each labeled for their known role in the Pokémon's evolution. Most of the markers were labeled as unsubstantiated, several were plausible, and only handfuls were likely. Bill's latest project was to isolate these markers and manipulate them independently to induce new "Eevee-lutions", as he had begun affectionately calling them. But for now, this project had to be put aside.

The spreadsheet was minimized and replaced with the interface for a video phone. Bill spoke into his computer screen.

"Call Oak" he spoke clearly and concisely. The telephone numbers on the screen lit up as they autodialed the number of the Professor, and the other line began to ring. After two rings, the call was answered.

"Bill! It's so good to hear from you! How long has it been?" Professor Oak seemed genuinely delighted to be talking to an old colleague, but this was not the time for pleasantries.

"It's good to see you as well, Professor, but I can't waste time. I have to leave for Johto immediately, but I need to share some information before I do."

The Professor seemed taken aback. "Um, by all means, Bill. What happened?"

"Team Rocket is amassing its resources. They want something, and they want it badly enough to make house calls. They've been doing their research too, it seems. They just took the Silph Scope from me and not without cost to my health." Bill was starting to hyperventilate from the excitement of narrating his story.

"Bill, Bill, slow down!" The professor was shocked by the news but continued to listen intently.

"I can't slow down; I need to leave as soon as I can, to protect myself. I'm going to my family in Goldenrod City. Listen Professor, The Rockets were asking about the Master Ball, I'm pretty sure they're looking for it, and decided to start with me, but I didn't give them any clue about where it is. I'm pretty sure it's still where I last left it."

"How can you be sure?" The Professor was entirely drawn into the conversation at this point. The resurgence of Rockets in a way that is actually threatening is enough to arouse Oak's otherwise very busy attention.

Bill scoffed. "I don't think he would throw away a gift like that, even if he isn't sure what it does. The important thing is that the Rockets are willing to invade and injure to get it. You of all people should be aware of that."

The Professor nodded solemnly. "I'll keep that in mind, Bill. Was there anything else you needed?"

"Yes, I need to contact Red. Do you have any idea where he might be?"

The Professor shook his head. "I've lost contact with him a few days ago. I assume he's somewhere around Vermillion City or the periphery, since that's where he was last."

Bill cursed to himself. "The first thing I'll do when I get to Johto is design a mobile phone" he grumbled under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing. If I record a message for him, will you be able to send it to him?"

"Of course" said Oak, "Go right ahead"

There was a click as the Professor pressed a button with a large red circle on his keyboard, and the screen flashed with bright red letters. RECORDING.

Bill took a deep breath, realizing he was about to share a secret only two people in the world knew. He began to speak. "Hi, Red. I hope this message finds you well. I have something very important to tell you…"

* * *

I ended up at Greg's Game Corner by complete accident. I didn't have a clue where I was going; I couldn't have. Celadon was a very large, practically labyrinthine city, currently being drizzled in a flurry of snow. The cold was astonishingly quick, and within only seconds of walking outside of the apartment building, I could feel cold hands clutching at my chest, as if I were back in Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town. Visibility was roughly 5 feet in front of my own nose…not that I was looking in front of me. My gaze was directed at my own feet for most of the time I was storming through the streets and alleys, kicking over anything that was upright to release my pent up frustration at Greg's systematic shredding of the only accomplishments I had. Part of me wanted to unpin the badges from my jacket, and throw them into a snowy drift, never to see them again. Another part of me restrained itself from doing so, hoping against hope that Greg was wrong in what he said.

And yet another part still thought that, even if he was right, I had a chance to redeem myself. After all, another Gym Leader was waiting for me somewhere in Celadon right now…hopefully one who would battle me as a gym battle should be.

With all of these thoughts blowing through my mind at twice the ferocity of the snowstorm, I had no idea where I was going or where I had been. But something brought me right in front of Greg's Game Corner, the brightly lit casino and bar whose dazzling neon lights were only a few of the ones around still lit, the colors scattered by the blizzard in all directions. I knew there were Rockets inside, but the place seemed fully operational and entirely undamaged. Even the glass door that Greg had said was broken in the assault seemed good as new.

_The Rockets must be trying to make it look like nothing happened_.

I definitely wasn't prepared to assault, nor spy on, a posse of Rockets. I hated Greg for what he had said to me, and I had no intention or desire to help him, but his criticisms of me were not as high on my list of priorities as taking care of the Rockets.

_You can figure out what they're up to, report back to Greg, and get back in his good books. And if you don't, you'll still be getting rid of those bastards. Maybe you'll even learn about the Celadon Gym. _Without giving myself time to come up with reasons as to why it was a bad idea, and remembering that icicles were quickly building at the bottoms of my earlobes, I pushed open the doors of the Game Corner and stepped inside.

Bright colors, excited voices, loud ringing, all assaulted my senses as soon as I had crossed the threshold. There seemed to be nothing wrong with the Game Corner; at least, not how Greg described it. There were plenty of excited patrons, seated at the slot machines, dressed in fine tailored suits or lavish cocktail dresses, pulling on the large glowing levers excitedly and staring at the rolling dials that would tell them whether they had just won or lost some amount of their income. Not that it would matter, since regardless of the outcome, they would just spend a little more. I didn't notice myself how long I was standing in the doorway until a woman with long white hair, and a dress to match, approached me. She carried a bright red drink in her hand, and a frighteningly predatory look in her pale eyes.

"Hello there, handsome" she purred, resting a slender gloved hand on my snow-capped shoulder and brushing it off daintily. "You're quite the star to be hanging out in a place like this, aren't you, Mr. Red?"

My nickname suddenly sounded awful when she said it, especially with the unnecessary title in front of it. Whether she was a Rocket or not, I did not know. There wasn't any easy way to tell when they weren't wearing their uniforms. I suspected that the woman at the counter handing out tickets to patrons was a Rocket, and the guards who paced the alleys of slot machines were as well, but I decided to play the fool and improvise as best I could from there.

"What do you mean? Where am I?" I did my best attempt to look dazed and confused, and looking around at all of the bright colors and lights.

"Why, you're in Greg's Game Corner, darling! Only the best gambling facility this city has to offer". She took a long and suspiciously quiet sip from her drink, maintaining eye contact with me throughout. There was a smack of her lips, which were also a dazzling white color, then she said "I know you won't be staying here long. You're a traveling soul and all, but how about you try the slots? On the house!" she added, hooking her arm into mine and pulling me towards the bar.

I continued my charade of seeming lost and confused, but this time I really was. _The Rockets clearly recognize me. Why would they want me to stay here and play on their dime?_

As we walked towards the bar, I asked her "You...uh, you said this is Greg's Game Corner? Would...um, would you know where he is?"

She gave a laugh. "Away on some business, darling, I'm sure."

"Business? What business would the owner of a gambling corner have?"

I caught the brief flash of fire in her eyes, but she gave another laugh and it was gone. "Oh, how I wish I knew, dear."

The pet names in particular were really starting to agitate me. If this woman was a Rocket, I couldn't wait until I had the chance to defeat her in a battle.

We reached the bar, and the woman in white sat down at one of the stools, knocking against the counter with her gloved hand. Another woman, this one with much shorter and much darker hair came over almost immediately. She wore dark spectacles that covered her eyes, forming a nearly seamless band between the plastic of the shades and the ebony of her hair around her whole head. She wore much less distinguished attire than the woman in white, garbed in what looked like the uniform of a train conductor, complete with shiny golden buttons and a dark, stiff collar.

"Ah, the Gym Challenger!" she exclaimed. Her mouth formed into a bright smile, but I wasn't buying it; anybody who needed to hide their eyes indoors and at night was clearly not someone known for genuine facial expressions.

"I'll start you off with 10 coins, on the house" she said, reaching under the counter and pulling out a handful of large golden coins. She counted out 10 onto the counter and passed them to me, along with a small satchel, presumably to hold more coins in if I won any.

I scooped the handful of coins into the satchel and decided I may as well stay for a little and see how much I could discover. As I turned to leave and find myself an unoccupied slot machine, the woman in white grabbed my arm once again.

"Have fun, darling, and remember, you never know when the next spin is going to be a winner!"

Her words were accompanied with only the slightest hint of a seductive wink, which promptly forced me to exercise my gag reflex. I gave no response to her, thanked the woman at the counter, and left quicker than I intended.

Each of the slot machines seemed to have a motif based on an individual Pokémon. I found one styled after a Gengar, with the three brightly lit slots making up the front teeth of its wide, devious smile. The slots themselves showed three images each in a 3x3 grid. Any line or combination made across horizontal or diagonal lines counted towards the jackpot.

_Well, here goes_ I thought. I put in 1 coin, and pulled the lever at the side, shaped like the Gengar's arm. The slots spun for several seconds while pumping out a loud and very bright-sounding melody. Once each slot had stopped, a dinging sound replaced the music, and 3 cherry shapes lit up on a diagonal. Some coins were then spit out of the machine and into a tray at the bottom.

_Lucky me_ I thought, pushing in another coin and pulling the lever. If this description sounds entirely boring, that's because it was. I was not at all invested in my robotic pushing of coins and pulling of levers; I wasn't even aware of how many coins I had anymore. My attention was devoted entirely to the surroundings. Specifically, the Rockets. Unfortunately, there was nothing immediately suspicious about the Game Corner, except for the obvious absence of its owner. None of the patrons seemed bothered by that.

_Wait, all of the patrons are still in the tunnel. They were the ones who were here when the Rockets attacked. So who are all of these people…_

I took another look around, still robotically pushing coins and pulling the lever of my slot machine. There was a man only two seats away from me. He, just like me, was pushing coins and pulling levers as if on autopilot, occasionally giving out a cheer of glee or a cry of disappointment. A quick look around confirmed what I had already suspected; the vast majority of the patrons were also Rockets, simply acting and maintaining an appearance of normalcy.

_Are they putting on this show just for me? Or is it as long as someone not from their group is here?_

I decided to observe the security guards who were browsing through the slots, looking for cheaters. Rather, that's what they would be doing if they weren't Rockets. Instead, they were likely keeping an eye on me, and others like me who weren't aware that they were almost completely surrounded.

The crushing realization hit me soon after the thought itself. _I'm entirely surrounded, in enemy territory. I can't make a single move for any of my Pokémon without the Rockets being all over me. _ I was considering releasing Andrea or Buffy to assist in my spying, and realized that it was far too futile. For every Pokémon I have with me, the Rockets probably have 20 with them. The more I did the math, the more I saw that I was in the middle of a powder keg, ready to explode at any wrong move I made. It was far safer to continue playing slots than to pull any stunts here. At least, not without some backup from Greg later.

As the slot machines continued to ring, I kept an eye out for the woman in white who greeted me. She was nowhere to be found, but her dark-haired companion at the bar was still there, likely keeping me in her sights beneath her dark glasses.

_If I leave now, it'll be suspicious, and they'll try to take me out if they haven't started planning to already. _I had no choice. I had to stay.

I don't know how long I sat there, monotonously staring at the slots, since there was no clock in the room and no way to track the time. The satchel of large golden coins continued to fill, occasionally stopping when a row of BAR symbols lined up in the slots. When I started to doze off is when I decided it was time to leave. I was there long enough to pass off as a regular patron (well, as regular as my reputation would allow me to be) and I needed to get out and report back to Greg. Rising from my stool in front of the Gengar slot machine, I approached the bar with my satchel swollen with coins. The dark-haired woman at the bar greeted me, but none too pleasantly.

"Finally turning in your haul for the night, huh?" she swiped the satchel from my weary hands and dropped it unceremoniously onto a scale. The numbers fluctuated back and forth as the weight settled and the number read a surprisingly large sum.

Two-thousand seven-hundred and twelve coins.

The woman was shocked. I was shocked too. The patrons surrounding us who weren't absolutely mindlessly drunk or completely asleep were shocked as well.

She leaned her elbows on the bar and looked at me over the rims of her dark glasses. A bright green eye glimmered at me from behind those shades between the strands of dark hair. It was the kind of green you would expect Meowth or Persian to have, or only people who knew the deepest secrets of the world. Such a vivid green color was alluringly beautiful in a deadly way. For a moment, I felt hypnotized.

_Get a hold of yourself. She's a Rocket._

"You've got enough coins in there to net yourself a hefty prize" she said to me, reaching over to nab the satchel from the scale and plopping it onto the counter between us. "You sure know your way around the games, champ-in-the-making."

There was an ominous tone in the way she said the word "games". I decided to issue a response; one only she would understand the meaning of.

"I only play to win. There are far more dangerous games here than slots."

There was a strained silence that even the patrons and other Rockets-in-disguise picked up on. It was a threat, and a thinly-veiled one at that. The air was charged with tension as the words left my mouth, as if the powder keg of the Rocket hideout was closer to detonating for the syllables I had dropped. When the dark-haired woman didn't respond, I gave an upward flick of my cap and turned to leave. On the way to the exit, a sign lit up with the words "Prize Corner" caught my eye, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to see what my hours of slots in coins were actually worth.

The prize corner was little more than a vending machine, but without a glass window into its contents. Instead there was another scale-like platform for the weighing out and removing of the appropriate number of coins, and a set of buttons for the prizes of choice to be vended. Among them were some valuable TMs for powerful moves (I still didn't have a clue how to use them) and some rare items. My eyes fell upon the bottom row, which listed Pokémon.

_It _has_ been a while since someone was added to the team…_

The Pokémon seemed like they were rare and valuable. The small blurbs by their buttons told me that. I read about Scyther, a fierce and agile Bug-type Pokémon, roughly the size of an adult human. And Porygon, an enigmatic creature able to synthesize itself entirely into computer data and travel through cyberspace whilst interacting with digital devices. Every option sounded enticing, but the last Pokémon beat all of the others hands down. The button prompt read:

"_**Dratini**__: wield the power of the Dragons. 2600 coins"_

That was all the convincing I needed. A few seconds later, my satchel was 2600 coins lighter, and the vending machine dropped in my hands a Pokéball, engraved on the top with a stylized silvery-blue D.

_A Dragon!_

The only thoughts in my mind were about the legendary strength I had heard about these creatures. The Dragon-type Pokémon were not only exceptionally rare, but also supremely powerful. Both of these attributes were demonstrated by the near-Champion of the Pokémon League, Lance, who is the only individual in the Kanto region to even possess a full team of Dragon Pokémon. And now I held one of them in my hands. I suddenly saw myself up in the ranks of the Elite Four, clashing against Lance with my very own Dragon, which was hidden like a gold nugget in a shady corner of the fallen Celadon City.

Perhaps I was being a bit dramatic and over-excited. In either case, there was only one name I could come up with for what was likely the only Dragon-type Pokémon I would ever possess.

"Welcome to the team, Jupiter."

I had to share my good fortune with my mom; it had been a long time since we talked, and a lot had happened. Lavender Town, most notably. Luckily, the Prize Corner had a videophone just like the ones in the Pokémon Centers just a few steps from the vendor. I pocketed my prize and approached it, tapping in the number to dial as quickly as I could. Only after the first dial did I realize that it's actually rather late and my mother wouldn't likely be awake at the hour. To my luck yet again, she answered.

"Mom, are you there?"

"Hi, honey! I'm so glad you called, I have the most amazing news to tell you!" She sounded very excited, but also on the verge of tears. I think this is an odd quality a lot of people, mostly women, have; being so excited or happy that they start to cry.

"Really? I actually had some great news to share with you too, but you should go first." I wondered what it could be, and my mind began to race, trying to figure out every possible event that could make my mom so excited.

"Well, I don't really know how to tell you, so I'll just spit it out, I guess!"

Nothing in the world could've prepared me for what came next.

"Honey, you're going to be a big brother!"

* * *

**So how do ya like THEM apples!**

**Hi guys, I'm back again with another update, and hopefully a good one. I spent a lot of time writing and re-writing and editing and re-re-writing this chapter during my spring break. I tried to recap the Pokemon (who are going to be seeing quite a lot of action soon), introduce some new conflicts, answer a few questions, spring up some more, and add a brand new member to the team. **

**Be on the lookout for more soon. The Celadon/Rocket Hideout arc was one of my favorite ones during the planning stages of this story, and I plan on completing it before the end of the month (it'll probably go up to Part 4 or Part 5). **

**Please, please, PLEASE, leave your feedbacks, reviews, comments, and all! I really do read them and consider your criticisms, ideas, and comments constantly when writing. You guys keep me going.**

**Thank you for reading!**

**Edit: Some etymologies, since I've neglected to use them for the last couple of chapters**

**Maxwell (Voltorb): After James Clerk Maxwell, the physicist who first wrote the equations that describe the behavior of electromagnetic waves (AKA light).**

**Jupiter (Dratini): After the largest planet in our solar system, which in turn is named after the king of the Roman Gods. Since dragon-types are sorta the shit in my version of the Kanto region, I gave him a boss name.**

**Henry, Irwin, and Greg: I knew from the start I wanted some minor characters here and there similar to Fuji, and I wanted their names to be related. I couldn't change Fuji's name, so I made up three other "old man" names to fit the alphabetic pattern F, G, H, I.**

**Marcel (Greg's Mr. Mime): I dunno, I guess I just picked a French name. Mimes are a French thing, right? No real story here.**

**The Rockets:**  
**Kepler is named after Johannes Kepler, the German astronomer who worked on figuring out the movement of the planets.**  
**Briggs is named after Fort Briggs, from FullMetal Alchemist, which I happened to be watching when I came up with the character.**  
**Phaeton (pronounced FAY-tun) was the name of a character from another story I began writing some time ago which never came to light. I liked the name though, so I recycled it and some of the character traits as well, like the eyes and the whittling.**  
**Vega is a reference to the star of the same name. It's one of the brightest in the sky, part of the constellation Lyra.**  
**Echo is just what it sounds like, mostly a reference to the fact that she has a team of Golbats (everyone knows that bats navigate primarily via echolocation, right?)**

**Aside from that, I just wanted to thank everybody again for reading and for giving me the reviews I need to keep writing. Stay awesome, guys!**


	22. Big Trouble in Little Celadon, Part 3

Chapter 22: Big Trouble in Little Celadon, Part 3  
(Truths Unwanted, Lies Unseen)

The Rocket Boss was dressed in his usual dark suit, with his usual stony faced expression, and sat behind his desk. Not his usual desk, however. Recent plans have forced the enigmatic man to change his location. The room he was in now was largely metallic and highly reinforced, but still made to look marginally like an office, similar to his own in the Rocket headquarters. This was the Hideout, hidden several floors beneath the residents of Celadon City, the only entrance being through a hidden paneled door in Greg's Game Corner. It took a lot of planning for the boss to be here, in this place, at this time. _Years_ of it…

The Boss wasn't alone. His five chief officers were with him. Vega, the woman in white, occupied a comfortable couch along one of the walls, legs crossed, filing her nails. Phaeton sat beside her, whittling a brand new palm-sized block, relishing in the way the claw-shaped blade moved smoothly over the untouched wood. Both occupants of the couch were entirely absorbed in their work. Briggs, the bulkiest of the group, and the lowest in rank of those in the room, stood leaning against the wall near the door. A dark bruise was visible surrounding his neck, and he massaged it occasionally to relieve its pain.

The remaining two Rocket officers stood in front of the desk, being addressed by their boss. Kepler, the vile superior officer, and Echo, the dark-haired sharpshooter, both had their eyes on the device now sitting gleaming on the desk between them and their boss; the Silph Scope. A tan cat with a red jewel in its forehead crept on padded feet along the tiled floor towards its master, and leapt up into the Boss's lap. As he stroked its light fur, a deep purring filled the room, the only sound besides the rhythmic whittling of Phaeton's knife. The Rocket Boss had just congratulated Kepler and his comrades on the devices recovery. It was critical for the plan, but only the boss knew why, and the others knew better than to question.

Echo was the first to speak after the curt congratulations. "With all due respect, sir, and if it is within my rights to know, what has happened to Commander Arrhenius and his squad in Lavender Town?"

The Boss grunted. "Trapped" he responded, monosyllabically.

"Trapped, sir? By whom?"

"Mr. Fuji has turned out to be a much cleverer old man than I gave him credit for. No matter" the boss waved off Echo's concern. "We shall liberate them soon enough, and punish Mr. Fuji for being such a nuisance to us."

Echo gave a short bow in understanding. This time, it was Kepler who spoke. His voice was not as full of respect and recognition as Echo's. Instead it was malicious, threatening…almost condescending.

"And what is the next step of our brilliant plan." The room filled with the hiss of his voice, drowning out the purring of the Boss's Persian.

"As I've already mentioned, if you were listening…" the Boss returned the sarcastic tone of his subordinate, his words edgy rather than venomous. "…we liberate our brothers from Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town at the earliest convenience. Aside from that, the next major phase of our plan has already been initiated."

The room waited in silence for the boss to elaborate on what this major phase was, but he remained quiet.

Briggs was the first to crack. His voice boomed from the doorway. "Well? You gonna to tell us what's going on or not?"

The boss's brow furrowed briefly at the informal address. "Of course not. If any of you are to be compromised, we can't have you knowing too much."

Kepler was outraged by the comment. His palms slammed down onto the desk, knocking over the Scope from the sheer impact. "Compromised?! By whom do you think we, superior officers of Team Rocket, are going to be _**compromised**_?!"

The boss didn't flinch. He was used to Kepler's outbursts. They were no more than the tantrums of a child to him. "I believe you are familiar with this young man here, are you not?" The boss rifled with one hand through a drawer of documents to his right, quickly finding one and tossing it nonchalantly to the angered Kepler, who disregarded it.

The boss raised an eyebrow. "Well? Go on. You may find it interesting."

Kepler, still fuming, raised the file and opened it. Inside were photographs of a boy, dressed in a red jacket and dark pants. A cap, adorned with red and white patterns, covered his head, with the visor looming over a determined expression.

"Who's this?" Kepler was still insulted that the boss thought he was one who could be 'compromised', but tried to maintain his conversational tone. Or as conversational as his usual sinister hissing could be.

The boss leaned forward, inadvertently chasing the Persian in his lap away, and folded his hands in front of him. "An underdog, a rising star, a wild card" he listed. "He goes by an alias; Red. In recent months, he has been challenging Gyms." The boss smiled to himself as he said this. Once again, nobody in the room knew why, and knew better than to question.

"And how do you think this child is going to compromise anything that we have set in motion?" Kepler responded forcefully, tossing the file back onto the desk.

"For one thing, Commander, he is already here, in Celadon City, in this very building, at this very moment." The boss nodded to Vega, who had been sitting quietly on the couch at the wall, wholly uninterested in the conversation. "Isn't that right, Vega?"

The snowy-haired woman nodded, not lifting her eyes from her nails, which she had polished to an icy blue color. "It certainly is, sir. He's quite a handsome boy, in fact. I may not be in this room right now if he were just a _tad_ older…" she looked up at Kepler who stared at her in disgust. "Too young to be within my…_tastes_…" she added.

"Additionally" the Boss continued, "he's a very promising trainer and, may end up either a prominent ally, or a crippling foe."

"How did you find him? Why do you even care about this brat in the first place?" Kepler rallied back.

"Some time ago, we found his movements across the region to match those of the beast's signal, just before we lost it. He's tied to it in some way, likely doesn't even know." The Boss uncrossed his hands and leaned back in his chair. "He will play a role in our plan whether we want him to or not, so we may as well keep an eye on him."

"Why not just get rid of him and not have an extra thing to worry about?"

"As I said, he may be instrumental. Only time will tell."

"And what makes you think he'll be concerned with us? You said he was challenging gyms. That would be his main priority in Celadon, not us."

"Think for a minute, Kepler. Celadon's Gym hasn't been seen in almost two years, the Gym Leader herself in twice that. He will not find her. Which means he will likely find us first, and then we'll find out whether it was worth keeping him alive."

"He's here, isn't he? Now? Let's just point a gun to his head and demand his allegiance. If he accepts, we're a step closer. If not…" Kepler's hand instinctively closed around the Pokéball on his waist. "…my beloved hungers."

"Every eye in Kanto is trying to stay trained on him. If we're too obvious, we risk the entire operation. We wait for him to find us, and that is final."

The room settled into silence once more. The Persian had walked over to Briggs and began rubbing itself against his calves, purring once again. Phaeton's whittling continued as well.

"So what do we do now?" Echo rejoined the conversation, standing as silently as a statue during the argument with Kepler and the Boss.

"We wait, amass our numbers, and integrate the next phase of the plan. Within 48 hours, we move for Lavender." The Boss scanned the room briefly to see if any of the officers had further questions. There were none. "Dismissed."

Briggs was the first out the door, practically kicking the large cat off his foot. Vega followed him, and Echo shortly after her. Kepler's eyes trained themselves on the toppled Silph Scope on the Boss's desk, then on Red's file. As he turned to leave, the Boss rose out of his chair.

"One more thing, Kepler"

The pale man stopped after one step and rolled his eyes before turning to face his superior once again. "Yes, sir?" he asked sarcastically.

The Boss took a step towards him. "If I find that you have laid hands on one of me Rockets again…" they were now an inch apart, their eyes locked. "…I will personally crush yours so that they will never work again. Is that clear?"

A true silence settled over the room. Phaeton's whittling had finally ceased.

Kepler's eyes narrowed as he registered the threat.

"Crystal, Giovanni."

* * *

Not a brother, a half-brother, technically. There was no chance that the child my mother carried was of the same father as me. I knew my father. He left us suddenly, one day, and I never knew why. Though I used to lie to my mother and tell her that I wasn't interested in knowing anything about him or who or where he was. All of what I know about my father was from my own scattered memories, faded like old paint. As those memories began to flood my mind, I noticed that there was an uncomfortable silence between my mother and I, who was still awaiting my response on the other end of the videophone.

"I…uhm, that's great, mom…" it didn't sound sincere, and I didn't particularly want it to. I was confused. Bothered, even. I wasn't my father's greatest fan, but I knew my mother wouldn't have just _found_ somebody while I was gone…_or maybe there was someone before I left?_ I racked my brain for any sign that my mother was seeing or even interested in another man while I was still in Pallet Town. No such sign came to mind.

"Honey…" she started, calmly, recognizing my conflicted feelings. "…I know you must have a lot of questions. I can answer anything you want to ask me."

_Why, Mom? Did me leaving you make you so lonely and desperate for company and companionship? Who's the father? Will they stay and help you, like my father didn't? _There were a lot of questions, but I held my tongue. Instead, a different question came out.

"Is it…is it a boy, or…" I was apprehensive, still wading through the torrent of my own tumbling thoughts.

"Yes, it's a boy!" I could see her glowing smile as she said it, and her hand descended to her belly. It wasn't showing yet, which to me meant that the pregnancy wasn't very far along yet. I admit that I didn't know very much about human pregnancies (it wasn't something we ever had to cover in Trainer's school, or that either of my parents ever taught to me), so even if Mom did tell me how far along she was, I wouldn't know when to expect my baby brother. I had lost track of how long ago I left home too…

_Half-brother_ I reminded myself.

"Mom…I…don't really know what to think. Congratulations." My words failed me again. I wanted to make my mom feel like I supported her, but my heart wasn't in it, and so my words weren't either.

"It's alright, I think I understand what you're feeling." Her words never failed to her. Even when her own son, who had been gone from home for who knows how long, she still didn't make me feel guilty for how I didn't know what to do or say in what should've been a moment of success for her. Ironically, this only made me feel worse.

"Mom, I'll need to call you again later. I…can't right now." For the first time since I dialed the number, I actually looked at the screen. An icon at the top right corner, the image of an envelope, was circumscribed with a red circle, and a large letter 1 beside it. "I have a message, I think" I added.

"Promise me you'll call me back before you leave Celadon City, alright sweetheart?"

I nodded, but I couldn't look her in the eye. I could hear she was ready to hang up the call, disappointed in the way the conversation didn't turn out at all how she thought it would, but doing her best not to let me see it. _Say something!_

"Mom?"

She stopped, then withdrew her hand from the screen. "Yes…Red?" She added my pseudonym apprehensively. It sounded wrong coming from her mouth. I don't know why she did it.

"Take…take care of yourself, ok?"

I looked up as I said it. She smiled at me, and returned my earlier nod.

"I will, honey." She put her hand on her stomach again. "For both of us."

She ended the call, and I let a chilling exhale from my body. The kind of exhale that makes you feel like you're lungs have squeezed out every last ounce of air they had, the kind where, for the briefest second, your vision grows fuzzy from the amount of air you push out of yourself. I shivered, and sucked in a fresh breath, the deepest I could.

_It'll be alright. She'll be alright_ I told myself.

I was about to pack up and leave when I remembered I still had a message waiting for me on the videophone. My finger connected with the smooth cool screen, pressing down on the highlighted envelope icon. A new video unfolded from the icon and expanded to fill the screen before flickering to life. I was surprised to see Bill's face occupy the screen in front of me.

I didn't know who or what to expect, actually. My mind was still with my mother.

"Hi, Red. I hope this message finds you well." Bill's voice was breathy, as if he had just run a marathon. His face was flushed and hair ruffled just enough to suggest that he was recording the message in the wake of something important…or difficult.

"I have something very important to tell you…"

_Oh no…don't tell me your pregnant too._ I smirked at my own joke, but Bill had my attention, as he usually did.

"As you've probably noticed, I'm not in the best condition of my life." Bill pressed the back of his hand to his forehead, as if estimating his own temperature. "I've been recently attacked by Rockets, and it wasn't the easiest thing to endure."

Suddenly, I was enraged. _Rockets? Attacking Bill?_

"Don't worry, I'm alive, and I'll recover quickly, but I'm no longer safe in Kanto, and I'll be leaving for the Johto region to stay with my family." Bill leaned out of the screen and grabbed a small suitcase to hold up in front of his face, emphasizing the urgency of his departure. "It's because I'm leaving now that I have to pass some secrets on to you."

My knuckles were turning white from gripping the console in front of me. I couldn't help but anticipate what Bill was about to share.

"The Rockets attacked me because they were looking for something…two things, in fact" he corrected himself, propping the suitcase up and now moving around the room filling it with various clothing items and journals. "The first is the Silph Scope, a device I made for the corporation that was used for identifying and siphoning spectral energy. It was how we discovered Ghost Pokemon, and studied their unique biologies. I have no idea what they want with it, but it's a one-of-a-kind device, and the Rockets have it now…"

Bill gave out a low sigh and wiped his forehead of sweat. _He has a fever…he's not as ok as he said he was…what did the Rockets do to him?_

"The other thing they wanted is far more disturbing. The Master Ball. It's real, and they're looking for it." Bill turned to look at the screen, as if it weren't a message and he were speaking to me in real-time, looking me right in the eye. "I know you've been meaning to ask me about how Pokéballs work, and now that you know that the Master Ball exists, I'll share all the details I have about it."

_How did he know I was going to ask him about Pokéballs?_

"You see, Red, the Pokéball is a simulated static environment for the Pokémon's energy to reside in. Basically, it's like hibernation for their bodies, while their minds are active in a computerized simulation, to keep them active and healthy without exhausting their bodies. It was a genius design, and one I wish I could've been the one to discover."

Bill was gazing out the window of his cottage now, remembering as he spoke.

"Pokéballs capture Pokémon by introducing them to this simulated environment. In it, the Pokémon is given a feeling of safety, security, peace, and comfort. It's meant for the Pokémon to realize that being with a trainer is beneficial for it. That's how they form the bond. Pokémon are usually very trusting of their trainers once they emerge from their balls for the first time. This is the type of psychology and science that has driven Pokéball technology since the very first capsules."

Bill's eyes clouded over for a brief moment, and he looked down at his half-filled bag. "But Silph realized it wasn't a perfect model. Pokémon, especially the more powerful, the more highly evolved, could reject the Pokéball's design, recognize it as an illusion, and break out. That was the intention, after all. The Pokémon must _choose _to be with its trainer. The Pokéball has always been about choice, it's always been fair. But Silph wanted a Master Ball, one that would work without fail, one that would take away the choice. They knew I was the only one who could make it…and the only way to do so was to change the design in the most sickening way possible."

Bill let out a brief, quiet sob.

"The Master Ball is…not like the others. Its purpose is to catch without fail. It has nothing beyond that as a goal, unlike the other Pokéballs, which want to keep the Pokémon safe and comfortable. The Master Ball works through fear, and pain. The Pokémon inside is subjected to torturous, maddening levels of unpleasant sensation, injected with fear, taunted with visions and feelings that would make it want to die. The Master Ball horrifies its prey, leaving the creature just functional enough to fight for its master, taming its power to the point where it can be controlled by a man. It is the most sinister device I've ever built…and I regret it with everything I have…"

Bill's second sob was louder than the first.

"It still exists, but the Rockets don't know where. Obviously they want to catch something, but I don't know what, or why. They aren't even positive that it's real, fueled in their quest to find it only by the myths that managed to escape the walls of Silph. But I'm telling you, Red…" Bill's gaze returned to the screen, intensifying as it focused on me, through time and through space "…it's real, and you need to find it before they do."

Bill's message paused. There were only two words in mind as the picture of the Master Ball, what it really was, what it was capable, that it exists, and that the Rockets wanted.

_Holy. Shit._

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you where it is or who has it directly because this message can easily be intercepted by Rockets, if they've done something to my computer while I was…" Bill hesitated, and his hand rose unconsciously to cover his forehead again. "…well, nevermind. It's with the only man I've ever trusted within the walls of Silph. Hopefully you can find it before the Rockets do."

I was starting to get dizzy, and my hands were going numb from the gripping of the console. Everything Bill had told me answered about dozens of questions, but only raised another dozen in its place. _What do the Rockets want to catch, and why? Who has it now? Why haven't they used it? How can Bill be so sure that it hasn't been used, or destroyed, or replicated?_ All this and more swirled in my mind, and I wanted to yell at the screen and demand answers, but I knew this was just a recording, and Bill was long gone, leaving just an empty cottage overlooking the Cerulean cape.

"Good luck, Red. I know that you can do this. Any syndicate that operates in shadow like this…can't be good for anybody." Bill gave a solemn nod to me through the monitor. "Professor Oak wants to pass something on to you as well. It may be important. Take care, Red. I will try to contact you from Goldenrod as soon as I can." Bill's eyes locked with mine again. I was staring so hard that the pixels on the screen were becoming all too apparent.

"Stay safe." He concluded, and the screen went black. A prompt appeared, asking me if I wanted to replay the message, but I was far too lost in my thoughts to notice. Stumbling out of the Prize Corner, still processing what I had just heard in the message, I noticed that the slots were completely unoccupied. Even the dark-haired woman at the counter was gone. It must've been the wee hours of the morning at this point, but it was still impossible to tell with the absence of any kind of clock in the room. It was only after that realization that it hit me exactly how tired I was.

_What am I supposed to do now? Go looking for Rockets? Alone? In this condition?_

I was absolutely exhausted. Fatigued. Completely drained. So it was no surprise that as I walked zombie-like from my late-night reconnaissance, I didn't even notice the small potted plant that jumped out in front of me, causing me to trip and sending me crashing into the carpet.

"Hey, what gives!" I shouted at it. _Man, I must be seeing things…or is that plant actually moving?_

The three large leaves emerging from the potted soil were twitching this way and that, as if swaying in a violent wind. Not a second later, the leaves erupted from the dirt, revealing a short, midnight-blue body with a stubby legs and a grin way too bright for this early morning.

"Oddish!" the plant chirped.

_Oh great…_As I reached for a ball on my waist (not even sure whose at this point either), the Oddish sprang out of the pot and ran towards the door, gleefully proclaiming its own name all the way, and leaving a path of tiny dirty footprints on the otherwise very tidy floor.

_Phew…good riddance_. If it didn't want to fight, I didn't either. The ball in my hand clicked back into place on my belt. Rising from the floor, I brushed the dirt from my pants and moved over to the front counter, now unoccupied. My elbows planted themselves onto the countertop, and my face fell into my hands.

_Why couldn't Bill give me more information…how do I know what to do now?_

My thoughts were interrupted again.

"Oddish!"

I looked up, and saw the little Grass Pokémon standing in the doorway, propping up the door with its own body and gesturing wildly with its own head.

"Oddish, oddish!" it repeated incessantly.

I think I understood. "Follow you?" I asked, pointing with one hand outside.

The Pokémon gave a rapid enthusiastic nod.

_This just keeps getting better_ I thought to myself sarcastically as I straightened out and walked as fast as my weary feet could go after the Pokémon.

* * *

**I promise this is the last filler before we get to the action-packed chapters that you're all (probably) waiting for.  
**

**This one took me a while to get up for two reasons: 1) I was debating cutting this chapter entirely, by removing the first half with the Rockets completely, and making the second half with Bill's message considerably shorter. In the end, I chose to keep it because I feel like there's not as convenient a place in future chapters for me to reveal all the information I wanted to in these two scenes.**

**And 2) I'm...still not entirely sure what's going to happen in the next chapter...I have 3 big ideas that I'm messing around with; I can't do them all, and I just haven't decided yet which one I'm going to go with, so I made this one last filler to give myself a bit of time to pick one and polish it.**

**But I promise, the next three chapters are going to be action, action, action! In the next three installments, you can expect the Celadon Gym battle, the full-out assault on the Rocket Hideout (with some unexpected allies), more information about the Rockets' insidious plot, some closure on both Bill and Lt. Surge, and finally, the long-awaited and long overdue liberation of Lavender Town.**

**Stay tuned and stay awesome.**  
**-Curse of the Ninth**

**P.S. There is a poll available on my profile that I invite you all to participate in, just so that I have a better idea of what to focus on as I write.**


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